Consequence of Misunderstandings
by Silently Watches
Summary: Sequel to Coincidence and Misunderstandings. The last time Raven saw the Titans, her relationship with them ended... badly. Five years later, she is ordered to Jump yet again. Will peace and diplomacy prevail once her former team catches wind of her return? Not a chance in hell.
1. Covert Operation

**Hey, I'm back! More importantly, so are Raven and Jinx.**

**Disclaimer:** Were the Titans afraid of Raven after she used lethal force against Slade? If so, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

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**Chapter 1  
****Covert Operation**

Deep in the Dinaric Alps of what used to be Yugoslavia lay an underground Soviet bunker. The presence of such a structure was not a surprise — the USSR had given the word _'paranoid'_ a whole new meaning — but what _was_ a shock was its highly active recent history. Passing from the KGB to terrorists to shadowy military projects to organized crime, this building with its oh-so-inviting address of Yugoslavia-5183 had collected more than its fair share of weird items. Most were worthless, others would be valuable in the right hands, but some… some were outright dangerous, too dangerous to leave to just anyone who could get ahold of them.

A flash illuminated one darkened corner for a moment, and the musty silence was broken as a mangled grille from the ventilation shaft dropped to the concrete floor with a clang. Mere seconds later a figure followed it, landing with a soft, quick roll. "I'm in," came a feminine whisper, and the trespasser stepped into the weak lighting. "Coast seems clear. Any readings on your end?"

"_Not so far, but you know that doesn't mean anything,"_ answered a tinny voice from the earpiece the thief wore. _"Want my advice? Grab the corium and get the hell out."_

Scoffing, the woman brushed dust off her black bodysuit. "Thanks _so much_ for that; I don't know what I'd ever do without you. Just keep a fucking eye on the cameras and make sure I'm not about to get capped in the back." She dismissed her partner's mutterings with a roll of her eyes and surveyed the storeroom. Pulling a silver chain that wouldn't look out of place on an old-fashioned pocket watch from one of the pouches strewn around her waist, she let it dangle from the middle finger of her left hand and slowly turned on one heel. Vertically slit pupils widened as the crystal on the end swung forward slightly; if she hadn't been wearing a mask that covered her entire face but for the eyes, a wide grin would have been seen. "Gotcha."

The object in question was a plain crate, no different from any of the other hundred or five that were scattered throughout the room, but she knew that was what she had been looking for. Looking around out of habit, she gripped the edge of one side and wrenched it open. She couldn't make out the contents as they were sealed in a large lead tube, but that protection confirmed her dowsing. This was surely what she was looking for, and if by some amazing cosmic accident it turned out to be something else… _Well, it's not like I'll have a lot of trouble slipping back in here._

"_Guards!"_

She spun to put the shelving behind her as the one door leading in or out, thankfully located at the other end of the storeroom, slammed closed. Chatter echoed in the tall space, not that she could understand a word of it. Her heart beating like a rabbit's, she leapt up and grabbed the topmost shelf; a moment's scramble found her safely laying on her belly, her body out of sight even as she peered down. She stilled her breathing to minimize her presence further.

A minute went by, then two, and she allowed herself to relax marginally. Her timing could not have been worse; a muscle-bound bruiser wandered toward her hiding place, bent cigarette hanging from his lips. He stared dumbly at the open crate for a couple of seconds before jerking a radio off his belt.

The woman allowed her training to take over. Diving from the shelf to land on his shoulders, she squeezed his head between her calves and flipped forward while adding a half twist; a sickening crack could be heard as her hands hit the ground. She released his head and transitioned into a back handspring, the soft sound of her feet touching down covered by his heavier thud when he fell to the concrete.

"How many?" she asked over the audio channel as she rummaged through his ill-fitting jacket, averting her eyes from the sight of his head facing the exact wrong way. Her fingers touched cold metal, and she jerked his automatic pistol and an extended magazine from their holster.

"_Give me a sec."_ A clatter of typing, and then, _"Looks like four in total, not counting the kludge-head you just iced. They should all be in the other side of the room, but I can't be sure; I'm still having trouble moving around this shitty system. If we'd gotten __**time**__…"_

She shook her head. "Not your fault." Fresh intelligence had come in a week earlier warning that the Serbian mafia had obtained nuclear fuel material it planned to auction the next day. That alone was bad enough, but when said prize came from the infamous Chernobyl reactor, there were more issues than just the radiation. Having caused so much pain and death and being recognized so easily, the material had almost certainly gained metaphysical properties; if it were ever used in a bomb, or even just exposed to the general population, the results could be catastrophic.

Hence why Covert Metahuman Team 26, codename Black Magic, had been deployed.

They were the absolute best the American military could offer when mystical threats came knocking. Mercenaries trained by the top-secret Perseus Initiative, they had the knowledge, the skills, and the raw power needed to fight fire with fire, sometimes literally. Unfortunately, much of their success was because they never went into battle blind if they could help it and they _always_ worked together. Half of their number were on another assignment at the moment, the kind where radio silence was essential. Between there only being two members available and having mere hours to prep, this mission had started with unacceptable risks and nose-dived from there.

"The next time we meet with Ruiz, remind me to break my foot off in his ass," she muttered as she slid the clip into her pilfered gun and switched the safety off. Hand-to-hand combat and her pseudomagical talents were her preferred means of attack, but the reactor fuel made this a ghost job; they could not, under any circumstances, leave evidence of who they or their employer was. If they did, denouncement and extradition were the _best_ possible options. That meant using firearms, unpredictable though they could be in her hands.

"_Like you'll actually go through with that threat. You know he'd… One of the brawns just found the vent! Get out of there!"_

She took a breath and started running, the soft soles of her suit silencing her steps. As she rounded the aisle at the far end, a man saw her and reached for his weapon before a burst of gunfire dropped him. Mentally cursing now that her cover was definitely blown, she growled, "Where's the next one?"

"_Fifteen feet in front of you on the right."_

Spotting the gap between shelves, she poured on as much speed as she could and twisted to her side. She squeezed the trigger as she passed, a thump indicating that her shots had found their target. There wasn't much time left before the next grunt followed the noise, so she angled her heading and jumped at the shelves on her left, kicking off and spinning in midair to land on the — thankfully empty — top shelf on the other side of the pathway.

The weapon in her grasp decided that moment was the perfect time to undergo structural failure and literally fell apart into a dozen pieces. She sighed, knowing she was lucky to have kept it even that long. Her metahuman ability, increasing the entropy in an object to destroy it, could not be turned off; she could suppress it, but stressful situations like this one caused it to surge unpredictably, which was why she hated relying on guns to begin with.

She held her breath to listen; sure enough, footsteps pounded down the aisle in her direction. Waiting until they were practically right under her, she rolled off her perch onto the swarthy man's extended arms. She twisted his wrists, grabbed the pistol when it fell from numb fingers, and fired two rounds into his chest. "And that makes three."

A sharp click and a babble of Serbian came from behind her.

_Crap. Giz said there were four, didn't he?_

She dropped the gun, raising her hands slowly into the air even as she gathered her powers. Ghost job this might be, but if the only way for her to get out of here alive was to pop this guy's head like a zit, she'd do it and deal with the fallout later. Unfortunately, her surrendering only pissed him off more if the tone and volume of his voice was any indication.

The lights hanging from the ceiling all went out at the same, and her captor paused in his yelling. He muttered something, then quiet returned.

Bang!

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden sound and dived to the ground when the gunfire didn't stop. Whirling around and manifesting bubblegum sparks in her hand, she used her superior night-vision to find him shooting at… empty air? The short man threw his gun away and ran, his legs stiff with obvious terror. He rounded the corner to the hallway that held the second corpse; almost as soon as he was out of sight, he screamed.

For a third time, silence.

Deciding that was as good a time as any to get out of Dodge, she lifted herself from the cold concrete and sprinted in the opposite direction. Coming to an intersection, she turned left, then threw a bolt of pink at a sudden crimson flash. She spun on her heel and found herself staring into four glowing slits peering from a nearby wall.

Panic clawed at her chest before she spotted a familiar glitter in the evil visage. "Holy shit, Raven, don't do that. Are you _trying_ to give me a fucking heart attack?"

"My apologies, Jinx." The lights came back on — _Or were they ever really out to begin with?_, she wondered — changing the angled streaks into two amethyst eyes in a smear of darkness. The pool of shadow spread, and from its surface came a head, then a complete body clad in grimy combat fatigues. The new woman brushed lavender bangs from in front of her face, showing unnaturally pale grey skin and a deep red gem shaped like a jagged S on her forehead. "You know that I cannot control my eyes' transformation."

_Bull__**shit**__, miss youngest-illusion-master-in-history. You just like making me jump too much to stop._ "And you wonder why we never have sex with the lights off."

Raven snorted quietly in amusement. "Is that the reason? I simply assumed you understood how much I enjoy watching you writhe in climax after climax."

"Nope." Jinx paused a beat in thought. "Well, that _is_ a nice side benefit, I admit. And your own O-face isn't too bad to look at, either."

"Always so crude. Let us grab your objective and leave this place; I have not had a shower in nearly two weeks."

She shrugged, following the love of her life down the halls. "It was you who terrified that guy, wasn't it? How long were you here?"

"Long enough to discover you never learned to count." Raven flashed a small grin over her shoulder, but her face quickly smoothed back to solemnity. "In all seriousness, Jinx, please do not scare me like that again. I have no idea what I would do if something happened to you."

"The same thing you did in Nicaragua, I expect," Jinx murmured. The web of scars over her left ribs throbbed in remembered pain. They had been in that country three years previously to steal a doomsday device invented by a certifiably insane warlock. The shockwave from a hidden improvised explosive had peppered her with debris before it smashed her into a wall twenty feet away; her only saving grace was that the bomb had been inside a building while she was outside, or the sudden impact would have been the least of her worries. Nevertheless, she had been concussed and barely coherent, though she _did_ remember what happened next.

To say that Raven was distraught was to say that the deepest reaches of space were a little chilly; technically correct but horribly understated in degree. When the two platoons of infantry surrounding them kept firing rather than let them escape, her lover proved exactly what happened when someone pissed off a literal devil child. The end result?

96 lives snuffed out in an instant of infinite black.

"More likely than not." Darkness sucked up the wooden crate before swirling into nothingness. "Time to go home?" Raven asked, a hint of hope coloring her voice.

"I wish. We need to stop by the base first. Can't have Hollingsworth yelling himself into an aneurism for failure to follow procedure."

The half-demon huffed. "If we must, but should he make an issue of how you did not complete the mission _'by the book'_, I will personally introduce said book to his spleen."

"Always so violent," she mocked playfully. Wrapping her arms around Raven's waist, she laid her chin on a dirty shoulder. Cold soulself crept up their bodies and flung them into the void.

* * *

**This first installment is more prologue than anything. Chapter 2 will be longer.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	2. Worst Mission Ever

**tick-tock-tick:** There might be little flashbacks for the more interesting moments of the backstory, but they will few and far between. More likely, I'll tell what's changed through exposition (as I do in this chapter).

**Orchamus:** I mentioned in chapter 15 of _Coicindence_ that Jinx is a witch, not a sorceress; as such, her talents are mostly limited to one field of magic, namely clairvoyance/divining, though she's exploring another at the moment.

**Faraway-R:** We'll see the Titans next chapter or the one after that, though our Big Bad is introduced in a half-dozen pages. Your thoughts on Brother Blood and the Perseus Initiative are very interesting but off-base; the Initiative was created as a response to the high numbers of teenage metahuman criminals who were on the cusp of adulthood, not the other way around. I'm not planning for a third story in this series.

**Stormwhite:** Just between you and me (and everyone else reading this), I don't know much about military organization, either. The reason they're mercenaries, though, is mentioned in this chapter. Technically, they will be real mercs after their mandatory service is up, though the U.S. will likely always be a "preferred client".

**Concolor44:** Hey, it's not the other teams' fault they're not as impressive as Raven's team. After all, could _you_ hold a candle to the daughter of a Demon Lord? I sure as hell can't, I'll say that right now :)

**To everyone who asked how long after **_**Coincidence and Misunderstandings**_** this story takes place: I included a summary for a **_**reason**_**, people.**

**Disclaimer:** Did the H.I.V.E. ever progress beyond petty crime? If not, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

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**Chapter 2  
****Worst Mission Ever**

A fountain of darkness erupted in the middle of a plain tile floor and disgorged two women. "I am _so_ glad that job's done," Jinx groaned, glancing about the empty barracks.

Raven nodded her agreement to that declaration. With a tiny grin, she reached over and yanked off the ski mask covering Jinx's face. "There, much better. I do not like you hiding yourself from me." She rested her palm against her lover's cheek with customary care, ensuring that the wickedly sharp claws at the ends of her fingers did not so much as scratch the pale skin.

Sighing in contentment, Jinx covered Raven's hand with one of her own and brushed the other through her messy pixie cut. Her hair used to be long and arranged in two upward-sweeping horns, but Sergeant Miyagi had needed only one session of close-combat training to show her that while such a 'do might have worked when she was a criminal, it was a bad idea out here. "That's twice you've smiled today. Does this mean you're done shoving me away?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You've kept to yourself a lot more these past few weeks than you normally do. It's been worrying me, especially since I can't help but remember this is exactly how you acted right before you split from the Titans."

Raven's eyes widened. "No! That is most certainly _not_ why I was acting like this! I am sorry I caused you to believe that was the case. I have simply been… preoccupied."

"The Brotherhood situation," she said with a relieved nod. It was understandable that the ex-heroine would be concerned when a collection of her old team's most dangerous foes were released from their frozen stasis. The first hint something was wrong was Psimon being discovered trying to take control of various Congressmen four months previously; everyone from the President to the lowliest paper-pusher had been _very_ upset about that. Though the Honorary Titans world-wide and even the Justice League had offered their assistance in recapturing the villainous organization, the military instead chose to recall all thirty-four Perseus teams and push up the activation date of another three that were still in Basic.

If Jinx weren't already convinced that the Initiative was the way to go, living through that little shadow war would have done it. 170 mercenaries had been far more effective in finding and eliminating their enemies than a bunch of vigilantes in spandex tights. Most of the Brotherhood died in battle; the few who hadn't were thrown into Hueco Profundo, an underground maximum-security prison that didn't officially exist located in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert. Magic from several practitioners, Raven and Jinx among them, prevented the inmates from accessing their abilities to escape or cause havoc.

Raven grimaced for a second. "…Not _entirely_, though that has certainly been an additional stressor. Thankfully, that crisis is over; our assault on their final stronghold was successful, and we even caught the idiot who freed them in the first place."

"You did? Who was it?"

"An adolescent meta with delusions of grandeur," Raven replied with a dismissive shrug. "He seemed to think a minor technopathic ability made him an up-and-coming power to be feared. The Lokibrood is interrogating him."

Jinx hissed in reluctant sympathy for the kid. Team Lokibrood had a special talent for pulling secrets from reluctant lips, but they were also one of the groups that had lost a member to the Brotherhood's attacks. "Is that really a good idea?"

"A pair of handlers are supervising to ensure they do not go too far overboard. Bellman refused to be one of them; he said he was just as emotionally invested and would be reluctant to stop them when necessary."

"If something happened to one of us, I hope Ruiz would be that supportive," she remarked. "Has the grand General Immortus been tossed down the Hole already, or can I still finagle my way onto the transport detail?"

Raven glanced down and said quietly, "He was deemed too dangerous to continue living. As we could not kill him through conventional means, I was commanded to throw him into Nevermore for several hours. His body had already shut down when I retrieved him."

"Oh, babe. C'mere." She hugged her lover close; no matter how aggressive Raven could be in a fight or when her blood was boiling, execution always tore the half-demon up inside. Not for the first time, Jinx railed at one of the few downsides of their involvement with the Perseus Initiative: so long as they were paying off the debt incurred for their numerous teenage crimes being pardoned, they had to be extremely careful about following orders.

The country's enemies weren't the _only_ prisoners in the Hole. A couple of metahuman 'spies' could be found there, too.

_It's not right that she gets punished for our fuck-ups. Me, Giz, and Baran are the ones with stains on our records; Raven's is clean as fresh snow. She should have been free to take whatever jobs she wanted as soon as we finished Basic Training, but instead she's stuck busting her ass with us. Even worse, if the three of us went down, I know without a doubt that she would follow us in an heartbeat._ She squeezed Raven tighter. _She's a better teammate, a better friend, than any of us deserves._ "You okay?"

"I am as well as can be expected, I suppose. It helps that the man should have died millennia ago; in that light, all I have done is restore the natural balance, yes?" Raven murmured.

She nodded fervently. It may be nothing more than rationalization, but sometimes that was all that kept them going, that and defending the bonds they had developed with their fellow soldiers. "Absolutely." Jinx looked around again, now knowing what had been tickling the back of her mind since they arrived. "Are we the only ones here?"

"No, I brought everyone involved in the assault with me. This base was the closest one to the Brotherhood's headquarters, and ferrying eighty people was too tiring to send each person to their preferred destination."

"Huh." She looked at the closed door in curiosity; the barracks were the main hang-out spot for most of the mercenaries between missions, so the room being empty was quite odd. "I wonder where everyone is."

"I do not know, but I am rather glad we have this solitude. I need to speak with you about… _us_."

Jinx laughed weakly. "I don't need to be worried, do I? That phrase rarely means anything good." She might be kidding on the outside, but inside she was getting anxious. _Please, __**please**__ don't let this be bad. I mean, she said she didn't know what she would do if something happened to me, so she isn't going to say we're over, right?_

Raven backed out of their embrace and paced a moment before turning to face her again. "I love you."

"I love you, too. This wasn't your big secret, was it?"

The half-demon ignored her joke. "You are not just my lover; you are my best friend, my confidante. You saved me from stagnation with the Titans and gave me a reason to break the chains the Order of Azar wrapped around me. It is only thanks to you that I discovered a life beyond mere duty to ethics I never truly believed."

"I think you're giving me a little too much credit. You did all that yourself."

"But only because I had the _motivation_ to do so, and that motivation was to be with you." Raven eyed her in silence for a bit, and Jinx blushed at the love she could see in the purple globes. The undercurrent of nervousness, though, was a bit worrying. "Recently, I asked myself a question. Can I let you go, move on, find someone else and permit you to do the same?"

The pink tinging her cheeks vanished. The other woman was sending out all kinds of mixed signals, but there were only a couple of ways to interpret that last sentence.

"I knew immediately that the answer was no, I can not."

_Well, that makes me feel better._

"Instead, I must be selfish and ask that you make yet another sacrifice for me."

Jinx blinked, wondering what twisted road this conversation was going down now. "What kind of 'sacrifice' are you talking about?"

Raven pulled off her filthy camouflage jacket and tossed it to the floor, displaying the sleeveless, skin-tight, leotard-like top she had never gotten out of the habit of wearing. A ball of black soulself formed around her fist; when it vanished, there was a small box of the same color resting in her palm. "The sacrifice is a pledge to never take another, to stand at my side for the rest of our lives." The lavender-haired woman dropped to one knee and opened the box. Gasping, Jinx stared at the simple diamond ring inside.

"Nirupama Dasgupta, will you marry me?"

Tears fought their way to her eyes. She, Jinx, the badass bad-luck charm, was actually _crying_; even worse, she couldn't bring herself to care! She tried to answer, but the words got all scrambled on the way up. Since she couldn't talk, she did what she did best and acted, falling next to her lover and catching her in a soul-searing kiss. Finally pulling away, she reached down and pulled out the ring, her eyes never leaving Raven's. Only when it was sitting securely on her left hand did her voice come back. "Yes."

The barracks' door chose that moment to slam open, and what seemed like the every metahuman in the Initiative poured inside. They all wore broad smiles, and as they took places in a circle around the pair, they began clapping and cheering. Raven and Jinx both blushed at the sudden attention after what had been such a private moment.

The noise stopped as Gizmo and Mammoth made their way to the inside of the ring. "We wondered when you two would finally tie the knot," the giant muttered in his deep voice.

"Did you…?" Jinx turned to Raven, only to find her new fiancée equally surprised. She looked back at their teammates. "How did you know she just proposed?"

Gizmo gave her a superior smirk and pointed at her ear. "Your transceiver's still on. The whole base was watching your fight with those European shit-for-brains, so I put you on speaker. Never expected we'd get to hear Raven pop the question, too."

Her cheeks heated further, but she couldn't help smiling at the same time; after all, she was engaged to the best woman in the world. _Nothing_ could pull Jinx off the cloud she was riding.

* * *

A week later, Jinx was pulled off the cloud she was riding.

"The colonel will see you now," the blonde secretary chirped.

Raven nodded and stood with the rest of her team. First through the door, as always, was Mammoth, his bulk serving as a shield for the smaller members. Much like Jinx, he had been shown the downsides of long hair and now sported a crew cut; his shiny outfit was similarly replaced with a drabber and… more _functional_ one. Since they were simply meeting their handler today, though, he was wearing a simple muscle shirt and jeans.

Following the behemoth was Gizmo, moving more slowly and with a mild limp. On one of their early missions, he had been pinned beneath a broken wall for several hours; when they could finally extract him, it was discovered that the right wing of his pelvis and that entire femur had been crushed. Not being a metahuman himself, everyone knew there would be permanent consequences from the injury, even if none of them could predict what those would be.

While recovering from his surgeries, the short man had taken on the role of communications and observation, putting his computer skills to work as he watched over them from afar. He continued in that role even after he was pronounced healthy enough to officially return to active duty, though he also assisted them with remote drones if necessary. Confidentially, he had informed Raven later that he found staying at base more his speed, something he had never known due to the H.I.V.E.'s policy of throwing all its students onto the field regardless of their aptitudes.

Jinx was third, moving lightly on her feet in a way only a trained acrobat could. The pinkette was the team leader, though she was far better in that role than Richard Grayson had ever been when Raven was one of the Teen Titans. _Not that __**that**__ is hard to accomplish_, she thought as she idly watched the other woman's hips sway. _All it takes is actually listening to others' opinions and realizing that being a leader does not make one omniscient._ An expert thief, a talented strategist, and a tiger in bed, there was no one Raven would rather follow into battle.

She took the last place in line for a similar reason that Mammoth was first: she was the other powerhouse on their roster. She did not have the physical capabilities the man did — few did, though an infernal heritage still put her strength at a level beyond most humans — but she _did_ have magic. She was a sorceress and therefore a great deal more powerful in the mystical arts than just about anyone or anything they were ever likely to square off against. Combined with her other abilities as a demonling, she deserved her position as rearguard.

They squeezed into the small office, the boys choosing seats by the walls and allowing her the chair on Jinx's left. As she sat, she reached over to entwine her fingers with her betrothed's; she could not help but smile when her eyes automatically sought out the sparkling diamond. While she did not wear a ring herself, she had wrapped a centimeter-wide ribbon the same fluorescent pink as Jinx's hair around her right wrist, the Azarathian custom for proclaiming oneself well and truly 'off the market'.

She turned her attention to the middle-aged man across the desk, who was currently staring at Jinx's newest accessory. Blinking in shock, he lifted his head and glanced between them several times. "You couldn't have given me some warning so I could be there? Raven, I'm _hurt_."

"Are you, Colonel? I am deeply sorry; after telling us that you _'refused to deal with all our lovey-dovey mushy crap'_, I was under the impression that you did not wish to be present. Next thing we know, you will be asking for a seat at our nuptials." The corners of her mouth quirked upwards as he grinned heartily. "Honestly, the timing was very much spur of the moment."

Miguel Ruiz, the handler for their team, shook his head. "You, spontaneous? That's a scary thought. And I _better_ get an invitation, or you'll find yourselves doing guard duty in the Capitol for _months_." He leaned back in his seat, a serious expression sliding onto his face. This was probably what she liked best about him; much like her, he knew there was a time for banter and a time for business. "This actually explains something that happened a few days ago. Tell me, do you have any idea why Lieutenant Hollingsworth was found in his office, bound and gagged, with a variety of writing implements and pages of regulations forced into his rectum?"

All eyes turned to her, and she struggled to keep a malicious smirk off her face. "I have no idea to what you are referring."

"_Right_. And it would also surprise you that this was shortly after he was overheard complaining, _'bad enough I have to deal with a bunch of freaks; now there's two dykes wanting to get hitched, too_'?"

"Colonel, if you are attempting to enlist my aid to heal him, you are doing a very poor job of it."

"Uh-huh." He looked at her for another second or two before nodding. "Well, I guess this mystery will just have to remain unsolved. Perhaps if he had seen his attacker, things would be different, but as he didn't… I'll also put in a recommendation that he not work alongside the Initiative again if that is his view on metahumans."

She allowed a grin to shine before leaning into Jinx. "That would be much appreciated."

"My entire purpose is to make your life easier." When they were done snickering at his sarcasm, he pulled a thin folder from his desk drawer and set it gently in front of them. "Unfortunately, I can't do that all the time. A job just came in, and you're not going to like it."

"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Jinx muttered, reaching for the file.

Strangely, he laid a hand flat atop it to keep it from her. "Two days ago, Team Lokibrood cracked the kid who thawed the Brotherhood. He's H.I.V.E." The three former criminals stiffened at the name of their alma mater, and Raven squeezed her lover's hand. "Turns out the new headmaster has reorganized them into something very similar to us, only he's hiring them out to every crackpot dictator and warlord who can meet his price. The brass refuse to let that situation stand. While other teams are tracking down the academy's recent graduates, your secondary objective is to go to Jump City and dismantle the school. You can let the students go if you want, maybe even nudge them our way, but the teachers are to be captured and imprisoned if possible, terminated if not."

"Well, fuck," Gizmo summarized eloquently. "Wait, you said _secondary_?"

Ruiz nodded. "Primary orders are to assassinate the headmaster."

Raven closed her eyes, calming down her rampant emotions. She had barely had time to wash Immortus's blood off her hands, and something in their handler's honeyed hesitance told her she would be the one to deliver the killing blow again. "That folder is the target's profile?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Who is it?"

She watched Ruiz open the dossier and gazed at the waist-up photo clipped to the top page. The man had a timeless quality to him; his white flyaway hair and deep frown lines indicated advancing age, but the firm skin and rigid bearing belied that with an impression of youth. What truly drew her attention, however, was the cold black eye on his left side staring at her through the camera, made somehow more piercing by the eyepatch over the other. He was familiar, though she could not place him. She looked at the lower-right corner and noted it was dated twenty years previously. "Again, who is he?"

"Former Army. He was part of a super-soldier program and the only success: strength, speed, reflexes, intelligence, all enhanced. They also tacked on a healing factor, though as the missing eye demonstrates, it isn't true regeneration. Unfortunately, the serum used had some side-effects, including progressive megalomania. He became more unstable as time went on; eventually, he went missing on a mission, was presumed KIA, and deliberately forgotten. Clearly, that was a mistake."

"You are not this obtuse, Ruiz." She rested the tip of one talon on the unnamed soldier's face. "So you must be deliberately dancing around the question. _Who is this man?"_

He sighed. "Lieutenant Colonel Slade Wilson."

Raven's finger jerked and gouged the photograph.

_Slade_. A likeness of a black and orange mask superimposed itself over the torn image. She dropped her eyes and silently counted backwards from thirty in Sanskrit. The last time she had seen Slade, he had been in league with her father, a Demon Lord called Trigon the Terrible, making him terrifyingly powerful, not to mention truly immortal. Though her father was dead — consumed by her own demonic side, in fact — and the inhuman abilities given to the man thereby vanished, that did not mean he was any less dangerous. _He was bad enough before, when all he had was a legion of androids and his own body. Now that he has a new and improved H.I.V.E. behind him, he will be even worse._ She tasted metallic concern washing over her from the others and raised her head. "You are correct; we do not like this mission. Is there any way to turn it down?"

"I spent all yesterday trying to convince the powers that be that this was a bad idea, but much as I hate to admit it, they have a point." He lifted his hands to ward off their glares. "No other team has the advantages you do. You know the field, you know the players. If anyone can get in and out with a minimum of fuss, it's you four."

Jinx interjected, "Better plan, how about we send in a full strike force and deal with Slade that way? Being sneaky-like is all well and good, but it's not the fastest way to take care of somebody. Get the kid to tell us where he's hiding."

"Don't you think I suggested that? The boy was expelled and thought releasing the Brotherhood was his way back in. Not only that, this new 'school' is by invitation only; transport to and from is by means of an unknown meta who can create dimensional portals. He's supposedly about your age, if that helps."

"Kyd Wykkyd, you glue-sniffer, what did you get mixed up in?" Gizmo muttered.

Sighing, Jinx closed the folder. "I think Giz said it best: well, fuck. How quiet does this need to be?"

"It's a classified military operation in the middle of one of America's busiest cities." Ruiz shook his head. "What do you think?"

"Not possible." Four heads turned to Raven. "Slade was always obsessed with Jump; the H.I.V.E. will have cut their teeth within its borders. That means the Titans already know and will be more vigilant than ever. Knowing Richard as I do, he will brook no insult to his 'authority' as the city's chief protector. As soon as we interfere, this will become a three-sided conflict."

"I understand that, but as the higher-ups reminded me more than once, delicate situations like this are why you're mercenaries rather than soldiers; if you get caught, we can maintain deniability. _Officially_, I have to stay out of it because I represent the Armed Forces."

"But unofficially?"

Ruiz locked gazes with Raven. "You need something — medical supplies, weapons, a fucking _air strike_ — you call me, and I'll do everything in my power to make sure you get it."

"Thanks, Colonel. It's good to know you've got our backs." Pulling the demonling closer to her, the leader of Team Black Magic looked squarely at their handler. "Timeline and restrictions."

"As long as it takes and as much as it takes without breaking our cover, even if that means arranging an 'accident' to drop part of the city on top of him. The Army wants this guy's head on a platter, and that's what we're going to deliver. You have your assignment; carry it out and come back here alive." He eyed each of them in turn. "That's an _order_."

"Yes sir."

* * *

**I know the end of the first scene is sappy to the extreme; my muse walloped me in the head with a mallet until I agreed to add it. Of course, the second scene makes up for it.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	3. Delaying the Inevitable

**chaosrin:** If you look back to the last chapter of _Coincidence_, you'll see that less than a minute in Nevermore while mentally unprotected was enough to crush Doctor Light's psyche and turn him into a brain-dead vegetable. The same thing happened to Immortus; without any input from his brain, eventually his body just shut down.

**Deathnoteuser:** "Hueco Profundo" roughly translates to "Deep Hole", which… well, keep reading. Just like with the Nicaragua reference in the first chapter, I was showing that when anyone does something bad to Jinx, Raven's retaliation is _crazy_ overboard. Make a note of this; it WILL be important later.

**Stormwhite:** Don't worry, you're among other anti-Robin friends here! As Raven is only half demon, resurrection is beyond her capabilities. Keep in mind that each scene may contain inaccuracies due to the narrator's biases or assumptions; Jinx believes that she increases entropy, but that's not _exactly_ it…

**Disclaimer:** Did the Titans leave the Brotherhood of Evil frozen in their base, where anyone could stumble onto them? If so, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 3  
****Delaying the Inevitable**

Inhale. _Azarath. Built upon an ideal of peace, it gave me only scorn. Where my demon-worshipping mother was welcomed, I was exiled. And yet, it is only thanks to the Order that I did not become an even greater monster than my father; for that, I am grateful. Fourteen years I considered it home. It is the world I both yearn for and despise._

Exhale. _Metrion. Unwanted, outcast. Alone. In my youth, I fought against this word with all my being, but now I do not, for it no longer describes me. I have friends, I have a betrothed, and in the near future, I will have true family. I __**matter**__ to other people, and they matter to me. I am one of many._

Inhale. _Zinthos. A journey where one rises above her circumstances. As a child, I was hated. As a Titan, I was used and betrayed. Now, though, I am praised, respected, and loved. To those important to me, it does not matter that I am neither human nor demon; I am simply Raven and all the better for it. I have proven my detractors wrong. I am free, now and forever._

Exhale. _Azarath_…

Raven's eyes were closed as she meditated. Around her was the night sky as it could only be seen from beyond the atmosphere, thousands of stars shining brilliantly. Floating a foot below her was a rough hunk of stone, the lone solid matter in this desolate section of the void. Silence filled her ears except for her breathing and the whisper of a furious, impotent scream echoing from an eternity away. Here, she was able to find her center, to calm herself from the stresses of the previous days and to prepare herself for the challenges tomorrow would bring.

Without warning, her peaceful solitude was broken. "Come on, Aunt Jinx! Give it back!"

She opened her eyes with a sigh. What greeted her was not a space-borne vista, but a bare wooden wall smoothed with age. Why, _why_, could she not have some peace and quiet once in a while?

Oh, yes, because this was not just a monastery. It was also the home of three young metahumans who, to her occasional chagrin, she cared for a great deal.

"Okay, okay. Don't get your panties in a wad, Teether."

"My name's not Teether! It's _Spitfire_!"

Raven rolled her eyes and shouted, "That is enough out of both of you! Jinx, quit antagonizing him. Spitfire, you know she does this because she enjoys your reaction. If you would stop giving her what she wants, she would not cause so much trouble." She rubbed her temples wearily. "Merciful Azar, sometimes I think I am babysitting _six_ children."

"That's not really fair, you know." Her head turned to the speaker sitting on the ground to her right. "I'm not _that_ bad."

"Oh, yes you are. You are simply _'that bad'_ in a slightly different fashion."

A snort. "I'm thirteen, almost fourteen, Raven. Cut me some slack."

"Never." Raven shot a smirk at the girl, who smiled in response. Perhaps in defiance of her masculine name, though more likely because of her burgeoning sexuality, Melvin had become enamored with clothing that flaunted what little femininity she had developed. To Raven's surprise, that apparel currently consisted of tiny black shorts and a far-too-small crimson t-shirt; its high spandex content caused it to cling tightly to her slightly bronzed skin. "For what possible reason do the monks let you run around in that?"

Melvin shrugged, setting her high ponytail bobbing. "No idea. Maybe it's the whole, _'What will be, will be'_ attitude they've got going."

"Or because they are frightened of your menagerie?"

"Could be that, too, I suppose."

Huffing amiably, Raven smothered the amused grin that threatened to break out. Melvin was a metahuman of great potential and blessed with one of the rarest of talents: materialization, the ability to bring imagination into reality. The first use of her power had been conjuring a fifteen-foot teddy bear named Bobby when she was four to protect herself from her alcoholic father. She had been sent to a monastery shortly afterwards.

The girl had spent the next few years in the monks' care alongside two other abandoned children — Timmy "Tantrum" and Teether, who had been called such due to both no one knowing his actual name and his adoration for gnawing everything in sight — before Raven had met her when the older girl was tasked with protecting them from the Brotherhood of Evil. Since Raven's demonic pedigree gave her, among other things, her own gift of creation, the monks at Melvin's new home had asked her afterwards to visit periodically and assist the child in discovering and controlling her blossoming powers.

They had not really needed to do that. During the comedy of errors that was Raven's assignment, the three tiny terrors had somehow wormed their way into her heart. Spending time with 'her' kids was not a hardship.

Under the demonling's guidance, Melvin had fully tapped into her ability, creating a wide assortment of living plush animals. Unknown to anyone at the time, however, the dark personality of her teacher had influenced the child, resulting in creatures with morbid, sometimes gruesome, traits. Raven's Ascension to her true nature and Melvin's newfound appreciation of horror films further twisted the toys into a host of monstrosities that would not look out of place as rejects from a petting zoo in Hell.

"Hey, did I tell you that I came up with a real hero name for myself?" Melvin asked with a grin. Raven shook her head, so she continued, "Well, I did. From now on, call me Nightmare!"

"Considering the fiends I have seen you play with, I find that a very appropriate name. Do not expect me to refer to you as such, however. You will always be Melvin to me."

"Fine, I guess. Since it's _you_. I gave Timmy a new one, too."

"And that would be…?" Raven questioned.

"Scream. Unfortunately, he won't wear the ghost mask I bought for him."

The woman shook her head. "You watch _far_ too many scary movies."

"Aww, don't give the brat a hard time." Jinx walked into the room and plopped down between them. Giving Melvin a squeeze with one arm, she added, "I remember what you were like at that age. Better for her to be a horror buff than emotionally constipated."

"'_Emotionally constipated'?_ My emotions had been shorn off and reformed into dopplegängers in my mindscape to keep me from accidentally manifesting _Trigon_ into the world. It was not my fault that I was rendered somewhat apathetic as a result."

"Like I said, emotionally constipated."

A bell rang loudly outside, and Melvin stood while brushing off the seat of her shorts. "I need to get to afternoon devotions. Are you guys still going to be around when we're done?"

Jinx smiled. "You betcha, kiddo."

"If we have no other choice," Raven replied dryly.

"Okay." The girl gave them each a hug. "See you in a couple of hours, Raven, Aunt Jinx."

The pinkette watched Melvin run off. "Don't you think it's awkward for the kids to call you by your name while me, Giz, and Baran are 'Aunt' and 'Uncles'?"

"Unless you have a new argument to offer, there is no need to discuss this again."

"Just because you're a stubborn ass about it doesn't mean I'm wrong."

Raven sighed; this disagreement was an old one. "I am twenty-four years old, Jinx. In case you misunderstand, that means I am _far_ too young to be their mother."

"Oh, please. You and I both know the kids know you aren't their real mom, but for some _crazy_ reason, they still love you enough to want to call you that. Besides, it's your own fault."

"_My_ fault? I visit every two or three weeks; how in Azar's name does that make me a maternal figure?"

"You mean other than the fact that you go out of your way to be here for every birthday, Christmas, New Years, Easter, Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving, not to mention taking them on vacation for a week every year? Remember how you bugged out in the middle of our op in Libya to give Timmy his present and tell him you'd make it up to him later for not being able to stay, even though we were hunkered down under fucking _artillery fire_?"

She had the grace to blush at that; her teammates had _not_ been amused at that antic.

Sensing weakness, Jinx pressed on, "But you know what? We understood that you needed to show _your kids_ that no matter what else is going on, you'll be there for 'em. They're smart; they know that our job means you can't spend every day with them, even though I bet you would if given half a chance. They know there are times we have to be out of contact because we're stopping some idiot from taking over the world or turning the planet into a big old cloud of spacedust. They _get_ that."

"They are far too charitable in that respect," Raven replied softly. "I am their friend, yes; perhaps I have even taken a role as an elder sister. But I dare not be their mother, regardless of how much they wish for it."

"And why the hell not?" the former thief shot back.

"Arella."

Jinx sucked in a quick breath between her teeth. "Raven, don't do this to yourself. Don't think that just because that… that _bitch_ wanted nothing to do with you when you were growing up means you'll suddenly start neglecting the kids if they call you 'Mom'. You would _never_ do something like that. What about the woman who _really_ raised you, Galya? Don't you think you'd act more like her?"

She shook her head. Though she knew intellectually that she would not treat the children like Arella had her, she could not help but fear that, should she ever fully step into that role, they would come to resent her just as much as she did her own mother. Combined with her dangerous work and limited visitation, it was all too possible that they could feel abandoned yet again. The entire situation was fraught with many potential crises and opportunities for someone to be hurt.

The joys of being emotionally whole. There were times Raven truly wished for her shattered psyche back; if nothing else, it had made life less complicated.

"Raven…"

"If the situation changes, I will consider it; until then, though, my decision stands. Would you please leave now?" Seeing her betrothed's dejected expression, she sighed and leaned in to give the pinkette's lips a soft peck. "I did not mean it like that, Jinx, but I _need_ to meditate. If we are to return to Jump and interact with my old team, it would not do for me to be out of sorts any more than necessary."

"I know." Returning the kiss with interest, the woman stood. "You still willing to giving me a lift tomorrow?"

"Yes. Perhaps you could use some preparatory meditation yourself, all things considered."

"That's always been your thing. I'll be fine."

* * *

_Maybe I should have taken Raven's advice_, Jinx thought as she watched the elevator's screen. The numbers it displayed just kept increasing, but unlike normal elevators, this one didn't measure how many floors it was going up. No, it measured how far in feet it was going _down_. Finally, the screen hit 3,000 and a bell dinged. _Whoever built this place took the name seriously. If over half a mile through solid rock isn't __**deep**__, I don't know what is._

Stepping through the open doors, she did her best to ignore the rifle barrels aimed her way from soldiers stationed along the walls. Two men at the other end of the short hall stood, and the one on the left challenged, "Name and purpose?"

"Sergeant Dasgupta, callsign Jinx, here to interview Prisoner 156."

The man eyed her a moment longer before moving to a computer screen beside him. The other guard pulled out a plastic bin like she would expect to find in an airport. "Please put your belongings in here. Jewelry, wallet, belt, firearms, ammunition, magical foci, bladed weapons, and all personal electronics such as phones, PDAs, tracking devices, remote detonators…"

Tuning him out, she took off her belt and dropped it in the tray, followed by a switchblade she kept hidden in one boot. She patted the various pockets of the fatigue pants she had stolen from Raven for the day in a search for anything the woman may have forgotten when she last wore these. Satisfied she was totally disarmed, she raised her head to find the other soldier gazing straight back at her. He gave a reluctant sigh and pointed to her left hand. "Your ring, too."

She raised her hand, her eyes flicking between the guard and her engagement ring as she weighed if this was worth starting a fight over. Pulling it off her finger, she held it up. "This was given to me a week ago by the love of my life." Instead of putting it with the rest of her things, she reached over and slipped it into the breast pocket of the man's jacket. "I'm holding you _personally_ responsible for its safety. If there's even a _scratch_ on it when I come back, I'm gonna take it out on your hide before giving you to a very pissed off half-demon to finish the job. Get me?"

"Yes, ma'am." He patted the pocket holding her most valuable material possession. "You have my word that no harm will come to it."

She nodded seriously and walked to the empty space between the two men. The less friendly one tapped his screen; at the command, a section of the wall shot up, allowing her to move quickly across the threshold. Jinx was extremely glad the door came crashing down behind her. It wouldn't do for the peons to see her collapse to the floor.

Hueco Profundo was bristling with layers and layers of magical defenses. Wards to block teleportation, to stop communication with the outside world other than from a specially ensorcelled landline, to calm all the occupants so fewer fights would happen; there was even a spell to prevent anyone but the caster from tampering with them. Most important, however, was a ward that forcibly powered down anyone who entered the prison proper. It didn't matter if someone was a meta, an alien, a witch, or even a half-demon; as soon as they were inside, they were no better than the average Joe.

Jinx _hated_ coming here. As both a witch and a metahuman, she got a double whammy. Her magic getting stolen away wasn't that big a deal; hers was a minor talent, and she had always been below average in raw power, anyway. All her stored hex energy, though? Losing that left her feeling shriveled up and achy. Oh, she knew it wasn't actually gone — as soon as she got back to the front desk, her abilities would be back as if she had never lost access to them — but what her head knew didn't change what her body was telling her.

At least she wasn't as bad off as Raven had been.

"_All of you understand what you are to do, yes?" Raven asked, looking at the twenty-some practitioners surrounding her._

_Jinx huffed. "Yeah, yeah, we get it. Let's get this over with already." The others nodded in emphatic agreement._

"_Very well. Wisp, Red Cap, grab the wards as I weave them and tie them to the runes. The rest of you, begin donating your power."_

_The pinkette closed her eyes. Looking deep inside herself to find her pool of magic was a basic skill that all witches learned early on in their training. She went past the crackling pink sun of her hex energy and locked onto the puddle that represented all the mystical power she could wield. Practicing this skill with her lover had really paid off; she used to need to several minutes to do this._

_Now came the hard part. Sinking her fingers into that little bit of magic, she __**twisted**__ it. The energy chimed, and the water was gone; in its place between her hands was a lotus blossom, fully opened and with petals the same color as her hair and hexes._

_Jinx opened her eyes to find the flower was still there. Smiling brightly, she tossed it to Raven, who was now floating above the floor with her legs crossed. Her lotus joined other symbols orbiting her, including a snowflake, a smoking gun, an hourglass, and not one but three funky-looking jewels. Raven's eyes were glowing white when she opened them, and the half-demon began to chant._

_Everything got blurry then. Jinx could vaguely make out Raven's two assistants waving their hands and creating shining runes on the walls, could barely hear the sorceress's rhythmic words. Most of her attention was focused on how she felt like she was sucked up through a straw the length of the galaxy. The entire process could have taken seconds or years; she had no way to tell._

_Finally, though, it was over. Jinx fell to the unforgiving concrete like a puppet with its strings cut. Taking a few seconds to get over the feeling of having run a marathon while dealing with the flu, she looked at the center of the circle to find Raven in the middle of a seizure._

Jinx used the walls to climb back to her feet before staggering down the hallway. The next few days after erecting the wards had been pretty touch and go. In a dangerous oversight, Raven had forgotten to take into account that her father hadn't been flesh and blood, but a powerful intellect bundled up in a conjured shell. This meant that while she _did_ have a physical body, her mind, her spirit, was that of a mystical entity. Sealing up that aspect of herself had left her in a coma for nearly a week; if the magic wielders present had done the 'right thing' that day and waited her spasms out, her own wards would have killed her.

After she woke up, Raven refused to come down to the prison ever again, going no farther than the shack housing the entrance to the elevator shaft.

Several minutes later, Jinx sank gratefully in the hard steel chair that was standard decor for the prison's interrogation rooms. She waved at the camera in one corner and slumped onto the cold table in front of her. It would take a few minutes for the guards to escort the person she wanted to talk to, giving her some time to pull herself back together.

_Why couldn't Gizzy come down here to do this?_, she internally groaned, though she knew the reason. Gizmo was one of the few unpowered members in the Initiative; like the Arrow Clan or the Bat Family, the tiny genius was just an exceptional human. As such, he was unaffected by Raven's 'power-down' ward, but he had been too busy updating his drones' operating systems to come down here. Baran and Raven also had things to do, so as the only person on their team with some spare time, she would have to ask her questions personally.

Jinx sat up when the door opened. A burly guard came in, half-dragging what looked like a frail old lady behind him. Dumping her in the chair across from the reformed thief, he chained her arms and legs to the floor and table before leaving.

The young woman eyed the prisoner for a second before speaking. "It's been a long time since we last saw each other, hasn't it? Six years or so, I think."

"Vhat do you vant?" The crabby granny tried to lift her head, but it immediately dropped back down to her orange-clad chest. "I vill not tell you anyding about de Brain's plans."

"You're behind the times, Madame Rouge. The egghead's gone, as is his chief hench-monkey. Immortus finally went the way of the dodo about a week ago. You're all that's left."

"You have come to finish de job den, yes?"

"Not really. I had a couple of things to ask you about." Jinx pulled a photo of the techie who had freed the Brotherhood from a pocket on her leg and slid it towards Rouge. "What do you know about him?"

"Dis is de boy who freed us from cryostasis. He vas a fool, dinking he could tell _us_, de Brodderhood of Evil, vhat to do."

"Why did he free you?"

"Vhy should I tell _you_? You are a traitor to de cause," Rouge retorted.

"Or I just had a better idea which way the wind was blowing." Jinx shook her head. "If you don't want to tell me anything, that's fine. I'll have that _nice_ guard drag you back to your cell to get older and _older_ —"

"Vait." The pinkette hid a grin as the Brain's former favorite operative folded like a house of cards. Considering how she used her shape-shifting powers to keep herself young and strong, being forced to age like everyone else must be Rouge's worst nightmare. "I vill answer your kestions."

"Glad we got that cleared up. Again, why did he free you?"

Rouge shook her head. "I do not know. De boy told de Brain in private, and den de Brain told us vhat to do. He never explained, and I had no reason to ask."

"Just following orders, huh? Bad form. Did the kid get any kind of outside help: supplies, information, anything?"

"No. He vas vorking alone vhen he voke us up."

Jinx sighed. "Well, you're not a lot of help." Standing, she walked to the door and stopped. "Oh, yeah, one last thing. Did he send any messages to someone? Emails, phone calls, texts? Letters, even?"

"Vonce ve vere avake, ve kept a vatch on him, but oddervise he vas ignored. I did not see him send anyding to anyvun, dough… I _did_ hear him say a few times dat he vould make somevun regret throwing him out of somevhere. Dat is all I know. He vas not important, and he vas too veak for us to make use of."

"Well, that's a fucking shame." She opened the door. "You can take her back to her cage. We're done here."

"Vhat are you doing! You said if I answered your kestions, you vould not do dis!"

She snickered mirthlessly. "No, I said if you _didn't_, I'd call the guards in. I never said I wouldn't do exactly that even if you _did_. You're supposed to be a badass villain; how the hell did you fall for the oldest trick in the book?"

Watching a pair of guards take the weakly flailing woman away, Jinx couldn't hold in her sigh. She knew finding a lead on the H.I.V.E.'s new base through Rouge was a long shot, but any clue that let them avoid spending more time in Jump was worth checking out. If anyone in the Brotherhood had known where it was, it would have been the Brain's inner circle.

_Well, I tried. Sorry, Raven._

* * *

Slamming shut the driver's side door of his blue circuit-patterned car, Victor Stone, more commonly known as Cyborg, looked over at his companion. "So, ya finally gonna tell me what we're doin' here?"

"Nope." The young woman flipped back her blonde locks. "You'll just have to come in and see."

"Seph…"

"Cy…" she replied in the exact same drawl. She laughed and continued, "Come on. Trust me, you're going to like it. I swear."

He shook his head fondly. Lisa Jones, who the Titans had known as Terra prior to her petrification, resurrection, and subsequent amnesia, could be a bit quirky when she wanted to be, but she wasn't the kind of person to go making promises willy-nilly. He took a glance at the sign ahead of them. _Phoenix Café. Sounds like some place __**she**__ would have liked to visit._ "Alright, alright. Let's go in so you can spring your surprise on me."

"Awesome!" Lisa grabbed his hand and just about dragged him into the shop. He barely had a chance to look at the tea sets and coffee pots before the pair were standing at the table farthest from the door. "Sorry we're late. _Someone_ wouldn't cooperate."

"Perhaps you should have told him you were going to an endless meat buffet. That would have piqued his interest."

Cyborg froze. That voice might be rich with life and laughter rather than the flat monotone he was used to, but he would still recognize it anywhere. He turned his head to the table's lone occupant, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"Raven?"

* * *

**In canon, the Tot Titans are supposedly siblings (it's never really made clear in the show, so I'm assuming it's a comic thing), but obviously they aren't here.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	4. Forewarned is Forearmed

**discb:** Yep, Rouge did indeed _"fail hard"_. Perseus members are awarded informal ranks that are more for internal use than anything; for instance, Jinx can't go up to a regular infantryman and give him orders, but in multi-team missions like the storming of the Brotherhood's base, she's still recognized as a team leader and would be obeyed. As second in command of TBM, Raven is a Corporal while the boys are both Privates.

**skywiseskychan:** I'm glad you liked Melvin. As for not focusing on her… There are a number of authors who get very upset about others mucking about in their corner of the sandbox; I, however, am most definitely _not_ one of them. If you or **ANYONE ELSE** (that should grab their attention) wants to write a fic about the not-quite-Tot Titans, the other Initiative teams, or even TBM, go for it! All I ask is a single mention ;)

**Deathnoteuser:** The prison's defenses would remove the boost Raven gets to her strength from her demonic heritage, leaving only the force she can exert from pure muscle mass. Recall that the ability she gained from Courage was physical enhancement, specifically to her strength and resilience. The wards can still kill her, yes, but only if she goes inside them; she's being overly cautious. Chucking her inside a prison she can't escape would be tempting to Robin, but he's too soft to keep her there once she starts spasming and he finds out his actions put someone's life in jeopardy.

**Stormwhite:** Exactly right, Raven has strengths and weaknesses from both sides of her heritage. After seeing how Rouge regenerated damage by shapeshifting it away, the explanation I came up with is that she is indeed manipulating her cells. Thanks for catching that error!

**Disclaimer:** Even though the Justice League was almost certainly involved in the Titan's formation (like paying for the construction of that _giant glass T_), did we ever see one of their members? If not, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 4  
****Forewarned is Forearmed**

_Cyborg froze. That voice might be rich with life and laughter rather than the flat monotone he was used to, but he would still recognize it anywhere. He turned his head to the table's lone occupant, his eyes wide in disbelief._

"_Raven?"_

* * *

"In the flesh." Raven grunted as the enormous man hefted her up and crushed her into his broad chest; she had to phase through his arms before he broke a rib or three. She surreptitiously checked that the glamour covering her claws, pseudo-tattoos, and Mark of Scath had not collapsed from the force he had exerted.

While illusions and glamours were often spoken of as if they were the same thing, they were actually two different yet related branches of magic. The former was in many ways akin to telepathy, creating an entire world inside a person's mind. Each sense was under the illusionist's control, and a practitioner who was sufficiently skilled could redirect the victims' thoughts so that they never even realized they were dancing to another's tune.

Glamours were simultaneously stronger and weaker than illusions. Rather than being cast on a person, they were spells laid on the object being disguised. In this case, no one — Cyborg, Lisa, the other customers, or even she herself — could tell that she was anything other than an oddly pigmented woman. There was a trade-off for this greater versatility, though: glamours could only alter sight and occasionally sound or smell. Touch and taste could not be changed at all, the latter of which she had confirmed first-hand through diligent testing involving chocolate syrup, honey, Jinx's tongue, and her own naked body. That was probably the one experiment for her craft where her beloved had not objected to being a test subject, and it had in fact led to the pinkette requesting more experiments in the same vein.

"I am glad to see you again in person, Lisa," she greeted with a nod.

The younger girl smiled, hands shoved in her yellow shorts. "Yeah, emails are good and all, but they're just not the same as a face-to-face talk."

"Wait, wait, you two have stayed in contact all this time?" Cyborg demanded.

"Well, duh. How else could we have organized this little get-together?"

He glared at Lisa for a moment before turning a pitiful eye to Raven. "And you never _once_ tried to get in touch with me? In five years? Why?"

She sighed and returned to her seat, self-consciously straightening the simple sundress of the same color as her old cloak. _Why did I let Jinx talk me into wearing this again? Oh yes, because she gave me that adorable little pout of hers, solely so she could take my pants. Blasted thief._ Soulself pushing out the chairs across from hers indicated for the current Titans to join her. "I did, actually, two weeks after I left. According to Gizmo, the Tower receiving the message caused an automated program to trace it back to my location. It was a very good thing I used a public terminal in Canada at the time rather than one where we were staying."

"Two weeks?" Cyborg gritted his teeth, his salty anger drying her mouth out in an instant. "Nightwing sent BB and Star after someone in Canada about that same time. Oh, that spiky-haired son of a bitch! He bugged my system!"

She snorted indelicately. "That honestly surprises you? His intrusiveness in matters that are none of his concern is his single greatest character flaw, followed by his self-righteous belief that he is always right. While I did not believe that you would try to find me after I asked you not to, we decided as a group that another attempt was far too great a risk so long as there was even a microscopic possibility that you were involved in the search. I sincerely apologize for doubting you."

"Nah, I can see where you were comin' from. Don't worry about it," he said with a sigh. "I just hate that we missed out on talkin' to each other for so long." His eyes narrowed then, and he asked his companion, "Wait, if the computers in the Tower are bugged, how'd you keep in touch with her?"

Lisa shrugged. "Easy. I always email Raven from the laptop at my house, not the consoles in the Tower. Night hasn't tapped that one yet, not that he didn't try."

"Oh? You neglected to mention _this_ in any of our exchanges," Raven prompted.

"Yeah, he only did it the one time. I had told him I was headed to a friend's place when all I was really doing was going home for a little peace and quiet, so I was able to catch him when he tried to sneak in." The geokinetic grinned. "His face was hilarious. Anyway, I wrapped him up in rock and said that if he ever tried to mess with my stuff without my permission again, I'd drop him off in front of the police station and get them to book him for trespassing, breaking and entering, attempted theft, and anything else I could make stick. He kept a close eye on me after that."

Cyborg leaned forwards, a hint of amusement threading through his rage. "He actually tried to pull another Operation Exorcist on Seph, but he decided that was a bad move once we had a little _chat_."

This immediately grabbed Raven's attention. Operation Exorcist was a stratagem Richard had devised out of fear of her powers when she was still a Titan. The crucial element involved trapping her inside a cage that would negate her abilities; after that, there were many options to deal with her, though banishing her to the demons' realm was one of the favorites at the time she discovered it. That had been the proverbial straw that destroyed her relationship with her leader, and from there the team as a whole. "All it took was a single discussion? He obviously likes you more than he ever did me, Lisa."

"What Cy forgot to mention was that this chat was _after_ he sent Night to the ER," Lisa added. "Beat the shit out of him. Busted his arm, broke some ribs, knocked out a few teeth, and bruised his intestines. He spent a couple of days in the hospital and another five weeks stuck in the Tower with a cast on up to his shoulder. He was _not_ a happy camper, and the tension between Cy and Star was brutal. She was all like, _'How could you hurt Love Robin'_ until he came back with… actually, you say it. I can't do your voice good enough to do it justice."

He rolled his eyes, though a grin struggled to break out. "All I said was, '_If I wanted to be lied to and turned against my friends, I'd've joined Slade; at least he was honest about what he was doin'. Robin, though, seems to be takin' after __**both**__ his masters, and not their best traits, either. He may be Batman's protégé, but if he ever pulls somethin' like this again, I'm gonna mail him to Arkham to get his head checked out. As it is, I'll be thinkin' long and hard about whether I want to put up with his crap anymore. Raven probably had the right idea like she usually does: get away from this mess before he drags us down with him.'_ That shut her up real quick. Thing was, I didn't know at the time that BB was talkin' to him over the communicator and Nightwing heard every word I said. He was… not great, but better when he got back from the hospital. Apologized to both of us, started listenin' to everyone's plans more instead of just expectin' us to follow his lead all the time, things like that. Course, now I have to wonder if he really learned his lesson or was just placatin' us."

"There is no telling with him. I wonder, however, why did you not leave like you threatened if you were so displeased with working with him?" she asked.

"I did, actually," he replied with a shrug. "Maybe a month later? I figured I had been a hero for almost six years and it was high time I hung up my spurs. Spent two weeks lookin' for a job before I realized savin' people really _was_ what I wanted to do with my life, then I was with the Titans East for another five. Runnin' with them again was fun, but it wasn't the same, not to mention Bumblebee and I kept tryin' to lead at the same time, which caused about as many problems as you'd expect. Finally, I just swallowed my pride and moved back into the Tower."

"And thank God he did," Lisa moaned. "I was about to squish somebody, and I wasn't sure who. Beast Boy was probably number one on my list, though. He seemed to think we would get back together now that I was a hero again, even though I still can't remember a thing from before I came out of that stone shell. I don't even know when my real _birthday_ is, let alone what Terra felt for him. Nightwing and Starfire always making kissy-faces at each other didn't help the situation at all. He's toned it down some, but I can tell he's still hoping for a miracle or something. Honestly, I don't care; my previous life's issues aside, he's just not my type."

Raven shook her head sadly. "Even after five years, Garfield remains immature? How disappointing. Speaking of relationships, Cyborg, Lisa told be that yours with Bumblebee had soured. You have my condolences, late though they may be." The two had broken up three years previously. The blonde had additionally stated in her email that though they had parted amicably, she believed Cyborg still carried a torch for the winged girl.

"Thanks. It's not so bad anymore, to be honest. She's now datin' an artist who graduated from the University last year. He's a nice guy, kind of soft, but if that's what she needs, more power to her. I've gone out with a few people since, but I can't seem to find anyone who really _gets it_, you know? Bein' with a hero takes another hero or someone really special. Seph's got the same problem. What about you and Jinx? You two still together, or did you join us in the lonely singles club?" He winked at her as he finished.

A goofy grin appeared, catching both her companions' attentions. "We are doing _exceptionally_ well, thank you. I actually proposed to her twelve days ago." Her smile threatened to rip her cheeks open as their mouths dropped open. "We have set a tentative date for the wedding for this upcoming spring."

"Congratulations!"

"That's great news," Cyborg echoed with a proud look on his face. "I just regret you didn't invite us to see it."

"It was a private moment." She grimaced briefly as she recalled the other mercenaries listening in through Jinx's transceiver. _At least, it was __**supposed**__ to be._ "If it makes you feel any better, you are both at the top of our guest list, right under Gizmo and Mammoth. I will send you the invitations when we have a more accurate idea of when and where if that is acceptable, Lisa."

"Sure."

She leaned back in her seat, noticing her empty cup when she picked it up for another sip. "My apologies once again, I have been a terrible host. Would either of you care for something to drink?"

"Coffee for me."

"This café has teas from all over the world, Cyborg; of **course** you would desire coffee. I suppose you want it straight black as well?"

He grinned unrepentantly at her. "Well, if you're offerin'."

A sigh followed his words. "Do you wish to be difficult as well?" she asked her fellow female.

"I'll have some of whatever you're getting if you don't mind."

Cyborg laughed at that. "Oh, I bet. I don't know if she told you, but you left your teas behind when you moved out. She spent the next six months or so tryin' them all, and whenever I brought it up, she just said, _'Raven and I like different kinds of clothes and entertainment, but I won't deny she has good taste in drinks.'_ She doesn't guzzle it down like you did, but sometimes it seems like it."

"Oh, come on! You don't need to bring that up!" Lisa said with a bright blush.

"Sorry, Seph, but I definitely do."

She quirked an eyebrow at them. Writing the order on a pad of paper provided for that very purpose, she remarked, "That is the third or fourth time you have called her that name. Do either of you plan to explain it, or have I been reduced to fumbling in the dark?"

"That would be funny," the blonde replied, smiling at Raven's mild glare, "but I won't be that mean. It's short for Persephone. I figured it was appropriate."

_A goddess of the earth who was dragged to the Underworld; though she was finally released, she could never escape the consequences of her stay. Lisa's story is not exactly like the myth, but I can certainly see the similarities._ "Appropriate indeed."

Tearing the sheet off, she conjured a mild breeze to carry it to William, a bear of a man who owned and ran the little café. "So Richard has possibly changed while Garfield certainly has not. What of Koriand'r?" Her two companions shared a look, which did not comfort her in the slightest. "Something tells me that I am about to regret that question."

"Well…"

"She's not your biggest fan," the mechanical man finally admitted. "Shortly after I rejoined the team, the Tamaranean royal advisors demanded she return home. She never gave us the whole story, but from what I could gather when she wasn't slippin' back and forth between languages, they nearly wrested control of the Empire from her family line. She and Galfore are still hangin' on, but it was close, and she spent almost eight months off-world last year solidifyin' their position. She blames you for it."

"Me? How could I _possibly_ have influenced Tamaranean politics?" she demanded.

He held up his hands in surrender. "I've got no idea, either. She was… a bit _snappish_ when I brought it up, though that could have just been because it was me."

"It wasn't," Lisa commented. "I heard her yelling at Beast Boy, too. I think the only one who might know is Nightwing, but making him talk is like pulling teeth. If I wanted to do that, I'd have become a dentist."

"I shall endeavor to stay out of her way, then." She rubbed her temples in agitation. _This mission just gets better and better._

Before she could reply, a little boy, no more than seven, approached the table bearing a laden tray. Noticing how unsteady he was under the weight, she lifted it with pure telekinesis, not needing her demonic powers for such a small mass. "Thank you very much, good sir. What is your name?"

"Franky," he answered happily, flashing a smile that contained a few gaps. "My daddy said that your drinks are free," here he lowered his voice to a whisper, "but don't tell him I told you that, Miss Raven. It's supposed to be a secret."

"I will keep my silence, do not worry. I appreciate you bringing this to me." She ruffled his hair for a moment, her time spent with Timmy and Teether coming to the fore. He grinned again before scampering off. _I did not know William even had a son._

Shrugging off her idle musings, she passed Cyborg his mug of tar before pouring two cups of a dark brew. "It is Darjeeling, if you are curious. Jinx took it upon herself to introduce me to elements of her home culture, including the teas they produce." She leaned back with her cup. "I know you have any questions for me. Please, ask them."

"Okay." Cyborg set down his coffee. "What do you do now? I'd have heard if you started a new team protectin' another city, and there haven't been any reports about crimes matchin' Jinx's, Mammoth's, and Gizmo's MOs. I don't think you're just hangin' around playing schoolteacher or somethin', either."

She shook her head with a sigh. _Of course it would be the first thing asked_. "I am afraid I cannot tell you that."

"You just said we could ask you questions. You can't back out of it now that there's one you don't want to answer."

"You misunderstand. It is not that I do not _want_ to answer; it is that I _cannot_ answer."

His scowl made his dissatisfaction with her response clear. "And that's because…?"

"That information is classified."

Lisa choked on her mouthful of beverage before spluttering, "What?! Holy crap, Raven, you're a spook?"

"If I were, you know that I could not answer that question." Some of the team's missions had smacked of espionage, though it was not the team's main function. Unfortunately, her quick comment had backed her into the proverbial corner; it was best she ended this particular line of conversation now. Taking a sip of her tea, she asked, "Anything else you wish to know, particularly regarding topics that I am actually permitted to discuss?"

"Not that we're not happy to see you again," the blonde began tentatively, "but why did you make it sound so important for us meet up today? You're not in some kind of trouble, are you?"

She looked calmly into the other girl's eyes. "It is nothing like that. Jinx, the boys, and I will shortly be spending time in Jump, between several days and a few weeks so that we may take care of some business we left behind. While obviously I would prefer we do not encounter each other in that timeframe, I know planning on that is foolish in the extreme. By informing you, I hoped you two, at least, would not leap to the offensive should you see us walking on the streets. I guarantee that we do not intend to violate any laws during our stay."

_Except, of course, for Slade's assassination. That one likely crosses a few legal boundaries, though considering he claimed credit for many, many murders during his various attempts to take over the city and actively worked to bring about the end of the world, I do not believe a guilty verdict is in any doubt should we put him in front of a jury. Besides, knowing him, we would have to kill him even if his capture __**were**__ our objective._

A soft tone played from her tiny clutch purse, and a unnecessary glance at her phone verified the caller's identity. Flipping it open, she stated more than asked, "I take it you finished the interview?"

"_Yeah,"_ came Jinx's voice. _"No luck, I'm afraid; Rouge didn't know or care what the kid was up to. How about you? Still gossiping with your friends?"_

"You know quite well that I do not and have never partaken in 'gossip'." The Titans grinned at that. "But yes, our conversation is ongoing. Wait where you are, and I will pick you up as soon as I can."

"_Yeah, yeah, we all know who you __**really**__ love. Tell the walking toaster I said _'Hi'_."_

She moved the phone from her ear and tapped a button. "I am not a messenger pigeon. Tell him yourself."

"_I'm on speaker? Hey, Stone. Don't let Raven cause too much havoc, will ya? Keeping her out of trouble's a full-time job."_

"Don't I know it," he responded with a chuckle. "If you're okay with it, we should catch up while you're in town."

"_Sure thing, tin man."_

Lisa leaned forwards. "By the way, congratulations on your engagement. Raven just told us."

"_She did, huh? That girl can't keep a secret to save her life."_ She laughed gaily, the sound echoed by two others at the table. Raven just rolled her eyes. _"Thanks. You must be Lisa; Raven's told me a little about you. Any chance you'll give me your work name so I won't go blabbing your real ID if we spot each other?"_

Two communicators beeped insistently, and Lisa drew hers from a pocket. "Persephone here. What's up, Night?"

"_I need you and Cyborg to return to the Tower immediately. We're about to receive information that the entire team should be here for."_

"Got it. We'll be there in a few." She snapped the device shut. "Sorry, Raven, it looks like we have to head out. It was great to see you again, and Jinx, maybe we'll get a chance to meet in person."

"_Oh, definitely. Take care, you two."_

Cyborg and Lisa stood before running out the café with twin calls of _'Goodbye!'_ Raven watched as they climbed into the man's unmistakeable car and drove off like a hoard of demons was on their heels.

After a long moment, Jinx said, _"You know, I'm getting a bad feeling about whatever they're about to hear."_

"You, too? I hoped it was just me."

* * *

All Cyborg's ire about being called away from his half-decade-awaited reunion with Raven vanished when he saw the cowled figure on the Tower's wall-wide screen. "Batman?"

"Glad you two could get back this quickly," Nightwing said from his position by the console. Crossing his arms over the blue bird design on his otherwise black uniform, he turned to his former mentor. "We're all here, as you requested. What did you need to tell us that was so urgent?"

The man's eyes, entirely white behind his mask, narrowed almost imperceptibly. _"Doctor Fate recently had a premonition, one focusing on Jump City. I felt you would appreciate being kept in the loop."_

"Please, Master Batman, what did the Doctor of Fate see in the future? Was it something bad?" Starfire asked from where she hovered over the couch.

"_He was… unsure. The vision centered on the appearance of a new, extremely powerful demon, one on par with a Demon Lord. There was pain and death following in its wake, but he believes Jump City will, strangely, undergo a change for the better."_

Beast Boy jumped up with a cheer. "Awesome! That means we're going to beat down another demon, yeah? After Trigon, that'll be a piece of cake."

"Earth to Green Bean, Trigon was _toyin'_ with us. We only beat him at all because Raven bailed us out." Cyborg made a show of examining the corners of the room. "If you look, she ain't here anymore. We're on our own this time."

"_Perhaps you still have some hope."_ The Titans turned back to the Caped Crusader. _"Doctor Fate's vision ended with a view of Raven's face, though he professed not to know what her role was in this event."_

Persephone's eyes shot to the metallic man, and he shook his head slightly. She grimaced but nodded back.

Starfire growled, her fists glowing green. "Undoubtedly, she will be the cause of this demon's rise, just as she was with her father. We should look for her and arrest her before she can create another crisis."

"Okay, you do that. It's not like she fought all three of you at once and won. Oh, wait, _she did_." The earth-mover rolled her eyes. "What makes you think you've got a better shot now?"

"If you and Friend Cyborg joined with us —"

"I don't know about him, but I fight criminals and supervillains. That's it. Show me that she's committed a crime, and I'll be right there in the middle of the brawl. Until then, she's a retired teammate, and I'm more likely to help her out than slap a pair of cuffs on her."

"_The situation is unchanged from the last time you contacted the League about Raven,"_ Batman interrupted. _"There are no warrants out for her or the former criminals you said she was associating with, nor have their pardons been rescinded. Unless you see her actively breaking a law, you have no authority to treat her differently than any other citizen._

"_Nightwing, the governor has declined the League's offer to transfer personnel to your area as a proactive measure. Until such time as the demon becomes a clear and present danger, you're on your own."_ The Titans' leader nodded sharply. Due in part to the very public nature of Raven's departure, many cities who hosted their own vigilante protectors had debated the wisdom of paying for the services of teams of teenagers and young adults when they already had police to ostensibly perform the same tasks. Though the status quo remained, the decision was closer than the various heroes were comfortable with. _'Who watches the watchers?'_ had become a popular slogan among those with anti-meta leanings in the time since.

"We've gotten along for ten years on our own just fine. One more disaster won't bring us down," Nightwing responded. "Thanks for the warning." He cut the power, and Batman's image flickered out. "I don't think it needs to be said, but keep an eye out. I'd rather not have us fighting a demon on one front and the H.I.V.E. on the other."

Seeing that the meeting was over, Cyborg walked to his room, the little blonde hounding his steps. Once they were inside, he flipped a switch on his desk. "There, we're invisible to the Tower's security system."

"Why didn't you want us to say anything about Raven? She said she wasn't going to do anything wrong, and like you said, she could really help if that demon does show up."

"You saw them in there. Once those three hear _'demon'_ and _'Raven'_ in the same sentence, they stop listenin' to anything else you tell them. The best thing to do if we want to keep them off her trail is not let them know she's back." He shrugged, stung by his own powerlessness. "It's about all we _can_ do."

* * *

**You **_**will**_** get an explanation for Starfire's hatred of Raven, don't worry. I slipped you a hint in the last chapter of **_**Coincidence**_**.**

**I had forgotten how much fun Cyborg is to write. We'll get more scenes from his perspective, though this story will primarily be, as always, from Raven's and Jinx's eyes.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	5. Ghost of Battles Past

**espacole:** And so courteous, too. The way the muse is whispering to me, you'll possibly get a better look at the prophecy straight from the horse's mouth, though I'm not exactly sure if or when. Bring on the next question!

**Concolor44:** I'm glad you like Lisa so much! She's definitely fun to write. Slade's goal is, as always, world domination (or at least city domination) though any means available to him. He… isn't entirely sane. Starfire… good Lord, Starfire. There are a number of reasons Raven wants nothing more than for TBM to stay under the Titans' radar, and avoiding the hyper-emotional alien empress with a galaxy-sized grudge and an army under her command is one of them. Unfortunately, that's a fool's hope.

**skywiseskychan:** You can't put all the pieces together yet for why Starfire's so angry at Raven, though a couple of readers have mostly figured it out; it wasn't a subtle hint by any means. Cyborg thinks he's protecting Raven because he doesn't realize she can more than take care of herself. He'll regret that decision later…

**Dyc:** Just so you know, I consider "tease" to be quite the compliment when it comes to my stories :)

**Stormwhite:** The way I see it, no country would like a group of planet-breakingly powerful vigilantes in tights traipsing about willy-nilly. Much as I implied for the Titans and Jump City, the Justice League has agreements with many of the world's governments that allow them to chase down supervillains within and across national borders. One side breaking that agreement would cause extreme tension, if not outright conflict between the two, and considering that the superheroes reside in a giant space station with only a few of their members physically able to survive the vacuum of space… yeah, not good. Raven has no criminal record, no arrest warrants, and is not actively committing a crime, so regardless of their personal opinions about her, the JL gunning for her would be seen as an attack on an average citizen, making _them_ the bad guys and possibly being grounds for their "contract" with the US government to be revoked. It's all politics.

**Disclaimer:** Were Slade and Control Freak the only villains who adapted their strategies after encounters with the Titans? If so, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 5  
****Ghost of Battles Past**

Jinx noticed two things the instant she awoke. First, and the reason she was up to begin with, was that the other half of the bed was empty when it hadn't been the last time she checked. Second was that it was ungodly early. "She better have a fucking good reason for not being asleep at three-fucking-thirty in the fucking morning", she grumbled as she climbed out of the comfortable sheets. Due to the warm summer air moving through the open windows, the pinkette forewent getting dressed before searching for the source of her troubles.

It didn't take her long to find Raven. Their mountain-side cabin was cozy, and when the former hero was frustrated about something, there was only one place she would disappear to. Flipping the switch for the porch's spotlight, she immediately spotted the woman.

_Ya know, ordering red lightbulbs was a bad idea._ Their reasoning at the time had been fairly simple: both of them had inhumanly acute night vision, so they would rarely need to turn on the porch light, but those few times they did, a regular white light would have left them blind for several seconds and suffering a nasty headache. Red, on the other hand, was much easier on their eyes.

Peering out, she decided not for the first time in the three years they had lived in the little house that, yes, they really should have done a little more testing before they bought the bulbs. The light took on a sickly glow around Raven's figure, and her naturally grey skin now looked like she had recently returned from bathing in blood. Her wicked — _evil_, came an often-ignored whisper from the back of Jinx's mind — appearance was made even more dramatic by the lines of runes dancing across her back and down her limbs, which were made easy to spot by the simple fact that they were now even darker than the pitch-black sky around her. For the first time in a long time, the thief was reminded of just why Raven could be so terrifying when she wanted to be.

She opened the door nonetheless. If there was one person Raven would never think of hurting or allowing to come to harm, it was her.

Her soft steps were loud in the silent Colorado night; most of the native wildlife, being smarter than people, had fled when the couple moved in, and only recently had they started to return. Wrapping her arms around her fiancée's waist, she molded her body against Raven's own. With her chin resting gently on the bare shoulder in front of her, she waited for the woman to speak up as she knew she would. It was just a matter of time.

Tonight, that timing could be measured in seconds. "It is late, Jinx. Go back to bed."

"Funnily enough, I _was_ in bed, but then I woke up because _somebody_ got out and left me all alone. What's wrong, babe?"

"Nothing." At her quiet hum of disbelief, Raven sighed. "It truly is nothing, just a vague intuition."

She rolled her eyes at that. Raven had without a doubt the best set of instincts Jinx had ever seen or even heard of, but unless she was fighting or working with her magic, she never trusted what they were telling her without outside verification. That the facts almost always backed up her gut couldn't seem to penetrate her thick skull. For the former thief, the refusal to listen to one's sixth sense was beyond irritating, especially considering she had relied on her own for practically her entire life. "Tell me anyway. What are you feeling?"

"Change. Violent, unstoppable change bringing chaos and destruction in its wake. The longer it is denied, the more powerful it becomes, like a storm building on the horizon."

"Are you sure it's not just the cold front the news said was supposed to roll in later today?" she asked lightly.

Raven's head turned towards her, glimmering slits disappearing as they met the light. Though their lips were almost touching, the narrowed amethyst eyes warned that now was not the time for kissing. Of course, if the other woman thought _that_ would stop her, she clearly didn't know the pinkette as well as she thought she did. A long moment later, Raven pulled away. "I am perfectly capable of distinguishing weather patterns from my own thoughts."

"Worth a shot." She sighed and idly traced the dark symbol decorating Raven's shoulder. The runes running over her currently red skin had not been made by humans, but were instead the language of her father's species. Jinx had been both unnerved and intrigued by that side of her lover once she found out about it, and though Raven put her foot down and refused to teach her how to speak the demonic tongue out of fear of exactly who she might accidentally contact, the woman had finally consented to give lessons in reading it. This particular character was one of the first words she learned: mortal, fleeting, quick to come to an end. _Well, __**that's**__ not ominous at all._

Unaware of her thoughts, Raven leaned into her. "I do not say it often, but there are times I wish your magical skills extended into prescience. I would like to know if my worry is without cause or if I am now growing into Trigon's foresight."

"Hey, you're the big bad sorceress. How could you blame the poor lowly witch for her failings?" She kissed her lover's cheek and nuzzled into the soft neck. She murmured, "Do you think it has to do with this job?"

"Perhaps. While bringing down Slade would indeed be change and would involve violence, my… _portent_ feels more personal than that."

"We'll be careful and keep our eyes open, then. If nothing bad happens in Jump, we can request some time off and examine it more closely. Maybe I'll even break out my tarot cards again," she said with a wry laugh.

"At least I will have some amusement. How Gizmo takes your predictions seriously I will never understand. Your predictions are even more farcical than those of drunken bug-eyed fortune-tellers."

"Hey, I'm not _that_ bad."

Raven was distinctly unimpressed by that rebuttal. "Correct me if I am wrong, but the last time you tried _'reading my future'_, you said that I would be trampled to death…"

She blushed, knowing what was coming next.

"…by _butterflies_."

"Well, it _could_ happen," she muttered. "Monarch butterflies migrate in swarms numbering in the millions. Enough of them stacked on top of you could crush you. Maybe." A snort informed her of exactly what the retired heroine thought of _that_.

"Come on. Like you said, it's late." Lacing their fingers together, Jinx tugged Raven from the porch and to their bedroom. Only once they were safely wrapped up in each other's arms did she allow herself to ponder her love's premonition. _There's no telling what your intuition is warning you about, but you don't need to worry about it. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I swear it._

That was the moment their phones rang. "What the fuck now?"

* * *

Jump City sprawled over a large area, and when the Titans got a call about metahuman crime occurring on the outskirts rather than closer to their centrally located tower, it could take up to half an hour for the team to get there, longer when they had to shake off the last vestiges of sleep as they did this night. Even with the JCPD granting them permission to ignore just about every traffic law on the books, a ten- to twenty-minute response time was common.

That delay could be, and many times had been, the difference between stopping villains from committing crimes and standing around uselessly as they watched the forensics guys collect evidence. More and more often since the H.I.V.E. had popped back up, they had been forced to deal with the latter. For Cyborg, there was no worse feeling than looking at people who had been robbed, assaulted, and a few times even murdered and knowing that none of it would have happened had he and his team been just a little faster.

_Three minutes away_, he thought as he glanced at the GPS built into the dash of the T-Car. _Five minutes total. Those punks are going to regret hittin' a bank so close to the Tower_. Cutting his eyes briefly to the people sitting behind him, he asked, "You two good?"

Persephone grimaced as they hit another uneven patch on the road and bounced wildly. "This is torture. I really, _really_ need to build up my flying speed."

With a grin, he twisted the wheel as he saw the next intersection; the various modifications he had put into what used to be a mid-class sedan were the only reason they did not flip when he took a sharp left at well over 100 miles per hour. _Speed limits are for sissies_. "Good luck with gettin' fast enough to keep up with me. How about you, BB? You're lookin' a little green back there."

"Screw you, dude!" The shapeshifter slammed his hands over his mouth immediately afterwards; if there was one rule about riding in Cyborg's car, it was _'Don't blow chunks'_.

Slightly earlier than he expected, they screeched to a halt in front of the white marble facade of the bank. He jumped out of the car and narrowly avoided being clipped by the glossy black motorcycle that pulled next to his pride and joy. "I think we're in luck this time," he said as he jerked his head towards the dozen police pointing their stun-rifles at the glass doors.

Dismounting after Starfire, who had ridden with him, Nightwing replied, "We can only hope. Either way, we don't have the luxury of standing around." He strode to the officer who looked to be in charge. "What's the situation here?"

"The H.I.V.E. planned to tear the place apart and take some cash, what else? Thanks for sending your guy in advance, by the way. We were about to deploy SWAT for all the good it would do when he showed up."

The various Titans exchanged nervous and confused glances. "Uh, what guy?" Beast Boy finally asked.

"He's not yours?" At their shaking heads, the cop sighed and said, "Don't know why I thought he was. Your group isn't this brutal. Can't say I mind it, though; it's nice to see those bastards finally get what's coming to them."

Now _very_ concerned, they rushed into the building just in time to see a figure fly from a side hallway and crash into a wall. Cyborg quickly understood what the officer had meant; from the awkward way the teenager's legs were angled, they were obviously broken, and one arm was just _gone_, cut off a few inches below the shoulder if the straight edge of his costume's sleeve was any indication. Intensely orange blood flowed sluggishly from the wound, and the boy — Cyborg estimated he could be no older than fifteen or sixteen, though the glowing cracks racing along his dark skin made it a little difficult to determine — moaned quietly in pain.

"Impossible."

His head shot up at Nightwing's soft whisper, but the other hero was fully occupied with the doorway the kid had come from. Turning slightly, he spotted the hulking shape partially hidden in shadow. His organic eye widened when the unknown stepped fully into the light. "It can't be…"

The assailant was still for a second, allowing him to get a good, long look. His first impression was spot on; this man was a beast, easily muscled enough to give Cyborg some competition when it came to lifting weights. Drab black fabric covered his entire frame while sheets of dark grey metal provided additional protection to his chest, shoulders, elbows, knees, and the backs of his hands. Orange fluid that could only be the teen criminal's blood dripped off the armor on his right fist. There was also a belt of the same color as the plates wrapped securely around his waist. The man's head was completely encased in a helmet similar to a motorcyclist's, the visor just as dark as the rest of him except for an eerily familiar design. Though now white with circular black eye-sockets and bearing no additional markings as the original had, that minimalist skull was as good as any signature.

"Red X?" No, it couldn't be him. The smart-mouthed thief had never been this tall or broad, instead possessing a physique remarkably similar to Nightwing's as a teen. Beyond that, he was most definitely dead; xenothium was unstable and insanely dangerous at the best of times, and all it took was one unlucky shake to turn an unreliable power source into a lethal explosion. X had found that out the hard way. "Who the hell are you?"

The new vigilante tilted his head. A synthesizer distorting his voice, he replied, "That's not important right now. I just want him." The finger pointing to the downed kid left no doubts who he was referring to.

"Well, you can't have him." The green bean finished his retort by blowing a long raspberry.

The attacker didn't react to the taunt. "I didn't come here to pick a fight with you. Give me the brat, and I'll leave peacefully."

This time it was Persephone who answered. "And while we'd rather not have to fight you, either, we will if we have to. I don't know why you want him so badly, but the boy's going to jail where he belongs." Her hands glowed gold as dirt streamed in from the gardens outside to coalesce into large blobs, and the rest of the team shifted into defensive positions. The motivations for the man's actions were unknown; nevertheless, it was clear they were at opposing purposes.

"This is a waste of time." The replacement Red X placed placed the fingers of his right hand against his helmet where his ear should be. After a moment, he nodded. "Understood." Without a moment's pause, he dashed directly for the crippled criminal.

Nightwing and a green tiger were in front of him before he could take more than a half-dozen steps. Of course, it was never going to be that easy; raising his hands to showcase the X designs on his palms, Red proved deserving of the name by launching cross-shaped projectiles at the pair. Covering the distance quickly, the weapons exploded into strings of much more adhesive than should have fit in such a small space.

_Okay, I don't remember __**that**__ bit of gear_, Cyborg thought as he watched the wide web of crimson ooze hit the two heroes and glued them to the tile floor. _Those things didn't used to blow up like that. Still, it's nothin' we can't deal with now that we know about it_. "Star, Seph, from the air!" He ran at their foe, tense and ready to dodge at the slightest movement.

To their collective shock, Red didn't seem to care about the nearly 500 pounds of flesh and steel coming his way. He raised his left fist almost casually; instead of deploying a shape made of rubber or glue like they were expecting, the edge of the plate on the back glowed a sunny yellow for a moment before firing a flat streak of energy at the Tamaranean. Faster than she could move out of the way, the beam hit Starfire and blasted her through one of the glass windows in the front of the bank.

Cyborg followed her motion with his eyes for a moment, then poured on even more speed. This guy probably had plenty of tricks up his sleeves still, but stopping now would put him close enough for Red to take him out with his fancy toys before he could deploy his sonic cannon and too far away for fists. If this fighter was anything like his predecessor, he'd prefer mid-range and fighting with gadgets and would therefore be less dangerous at close quarters.

He should have remembered it was assumptions more than anything else that got heroes killed in the line of duty.

Though he did close the distance, he could not react in time to the electricity crackling along Red's knuckles. One punch to the chest later, he went soaring backwards and crashed to the ground ten feet away. He was not alone in his ill-fated flight, however; Red was also tossed in the air from his own blow to the chin, though the criminal managed to twist in the middle of his fall and land on his feet just in time for his hands to be encased in rock.

"Good job, Seph," he cheered, but when he tried to push himself to his feet, he discovered that he could not get his body to work. _How much voltage did that hit have?_

Because he was laying on his chest facing the pair, he got a close look at another difference between this Red X and the previous one. The mystery man ignored his captured fists and rushed at the sole standing Titan. Pulling up chunks of the concrete foundation, she threw them at him; he simply broke through them, ridding himself of the dirt around one hand in the process. Spreading his fingers and aiming his palm, two Xs shot out. Once in the air, they curled up into small balls and started to glow. She _just_ managed to get a wall up when they detonated, though there was little flash or fire and a whole lot louder _whump_. The shockwave was strong enough to shatter the earthen fortification and hurl her back a dozen paces. Persephone groaned but didn't try to get back up.

Red smashed the other rock 'cuff' and muttered, "Yeah, yeah, I hear you. No using demo charges on the little girl. She'll be fine." The vigilante strolled to the H.I.V.E. member and was reaching down to haul the kid up when a ball of bright green light hit him, blowing him through the tellers' stations.

"That will teach you, Fake Red X," Starfire called as she flew back into the bank. Taking up a lecturing pose, she continued, "While your heart is in the right place, you cannot go hurting criminals as you did tonight. To do so is to lower yourself to their level, and from there it is only a short distance to —" Caught up in her speech, she never saw the small shape spinning through the air to stick on her exposed midriff. It discharged in a brilliant azure halo of lightning, and she shrieked for an second before her eyes rolled up to the back of her head. She fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

There was a grunt as Red waded through the broken pieces of wood and computer components. "Good thing she's an alien. That big a shock would have killed a norm." Checking his outfit, he cursed too quietly for Cyborg to hear clearly as he spotted strips of fabric hanging onto the edges of a hole at his bicep. Instead of moving on like a regular person would do, he carefully repositioned the shredded material over his tanned skin. Cyborg was shocked at the white glow emanating from the torn edges before they sealed, leaving the suit as unmarked as it had been when the Titans first saw him. _I'm pretty sure Nightwing's version of the suit couldn't do that, either. Who is this guy?_

Red looked over the five fallen friends before he picked up the injured criminal and tossed him over his shoulder. Turning to the team's bound leader, he remarked, "Let's hope this is the last time we see each other." With that cryptic comment, Red pushed the button on his belt where a buckle would normally be and vanished in a burst of static.

Feeling the circuitry in his prosthetics coming back online, though too late to do any good, the metal man slowly turned his head to Nightwing. "Please tell me you made a bigger version of the Red X suit and put a ton more weaponry on it without tellin' us."

"No, I didn't, and the original was lost when X blew himself up. He was too self-centered to let anyone duplicate it, either." The black and blue hero grimaced. "Which means our new Red X hacked into our computer system and downloaded the design from my most secure files. Now the question is who is he and why did he want it?"

"And if he's willin' to commit a crime to get it, why was he huntin' down the H.I.V.E.? Knocking out the competition, or do you think he was after that kid specifically?"

"Our luck hasn't been good enough lately for the second option to be the case. If he _was_ planning to shut down the H.I.V.E. for good, though, what did he mean by _'the last time we see each other'_? Surely he can't think that a single defeat would dissuade them or us."

"Hello!" Beast Boy yelled, getting their attention. "A little less talking and a little more _getting out this goop_ would be nice!"

* * *

The teleporter built into the suit was a short-range device, only good for jumps of two hundred feet or so. Still, that was enough for the gigantic man to appear on the top of a building across the street from the bank he had just trounced the Titans in. "I could use a pick-up right about now," he growled into the transceiver that was part of his helmet. There was no response, but a second later his shadow came to life and wrapped him and his cargo in its dark embrace. Another second and the roof was deserted once again.

Shivering from the sudden dunk in his teammate's cold nothingness, the man tossed the captive onto the floor. He pulled off his helmet and rubbed one hand through his cropped red hair. "Four got away in one of Kyd's portals, and a fifth's dead. He's all I could bring back."

"We saw," Raven replied calmly as she propped the H.I.V.E. student against the wall, not seeming to care that kneeling like she was lifted the edge of the short robe she wore to an almost indecent height. She summoned a pale blue light to her hand that she then ran over the kid's stump; less and less blood poured out after each pass. "Though you really should have expected a girl who could bond metal to her skin to be especially conductive in that state."

Mammoth nodded with a grimace and glanced at the wall of computer screens Gizmo was sitting in front of; each one showed the view from a camera in the bank he had just left. "The bug actually worked."

"Yeah, it did." The midget's joy was painted all over his face as he bounced in his chair like a kid of the proper age for his size. "That program was a long shot; I never expected it to work that well or for it to give us an opportunity like it did. That scrapheap really should have kept their firewalls up-to-date." He snickered as he rattled on the keyboard for a bit. Half the images changed to the interior of the Titans' precious Tower. "I mean, I broke into their system before they even showed up at the scene!"

Jinx, wrapped in a red robe similar to her fiancée's black, looked between the two of them for a moment before asking, "Okay, what the hell did you two cook up this time? And does it have anything to do with how you knew someone was robbing that bank?"

"_Well_…" Gizmo quickly pulled a long page of code up on one screen. "I got to thinking yesterday about that tracker the Titans used after we left Jump; you know, the one that switched on when Raven sent that email to the lead-brain? Anyway, if they did something like that, why the hell couldn't I? Since I had a half-hour or so while I was waiting for the tri-D printer to make a couple of replacement parts for my girls, I decided to give it a shot and cobbled this together. Not my prettiest work, I'll admit; I've still gotta add a couple of subroutines to better avoid detection, maybe a viral aspect to infect more of their tech. I could even —"

"Giz, _focus_. What. Does. It. _Do_?"

He grumbled under his breath for a moment. "What it _'do'_ is pretty simple. Watch."

Another few keystrokes, and the faces belonging to Robin and the chief of police appeared. _"Nightwing,"_ the chief's image began, _"a bunch of H.I.V.E. kids have just been spotted breaking into the bank on Summerland Avenue."_

"_At this time of night?"_ the Robin duplicate asked with a hastily-covered yawn. _"Don't they have anything better to do, like sleep?"_

"_Apparently not. I'm sending my men to keep bystanders out of the way. Let's just be thankful they decided to wait until there weren't any people inside this time."_

Raven looked at the monitors in shock, all thoughts of healing the crippled thief gone. "You hacked into the encrypted channel between the police department and the Tower and then leap-frogged into the Tower's main system via a program you wrote on a _whim_?"

"Yep. They don't call me a genius for nothing, ya know?"

"You certainly earned that title tonight," she admitted. Laying her hand against the H.I.V.E. member's forehead, she muttered softly in a language Mammoth wasn't sure anyone else in the world even spoke anymore. "His shapeshifting abilities have been neutralized. Should we send him to another team for interrogation or proceed ourselves?"

The former criminals shared a glance before Mammoth spoke for them. "I thought Ruiz was saying we were totally on our own this time. Even if he wasn't, Fenrir mentioned that they were off-duty for the next couple of weeks because of Narfi's death. I don't think they want to be bothered right now." The werewolf-like meta from Team Lokibrood and he often spotted for each other in the gym, so he knew how depressed the whole crew was about their youngest member's demise.

"I was afraid you would say that. Very well." Raven removed her hand from the kid and blew on his face. His blood-shot brown eyes shot open. "It is advisable that you do not struggle; I have disabled all voluntary movement below your neck for the duration of our conversation. Do you know who I am?"

He spat at her, but the large drop stopped in midair before dropping to the floor. "Yeah, you're some dumb bitch who's gonna get her ass killed for getting in our way." He closed his eyes, then opened them again in obvious shock. "What the hell d'you do to me?!"

"Did I not say a moment ago that I restricted your motion? That includes your ability to shift to a magmatic form. For your edification, I am Raven, member of the Eldritch Enclave, former Teen Titan, and one of the most powerful telepaths on this planet." The boy's eyes got even wider if such a thing was possible. "I will now read your mind of everything that is related to the H.I.V.E. It is a waste of breath, I am sure, but I very strongly recommend that you relax and do not attempt to hinder me. You will not succeed, and doing so will change your experience from merely uncomfortable to excruciatingly painful. Should you fight, there is also a risk of permanent consequences, including but not limited to epilepsy, paralysis, memory loss, coma, and even brain-death." She squeezed her eyes tight for a moment; when they opened, they burned a brilliant white. Holding the metahuman's head in her hands, she gazed into his own like she was scrutinizing his very soul. "Let us begin."

Mammoth shook his head; this side of Raven always made him a little nervous. "That whole spiel was her playing with her food again, wasn't it?" he asked Jinx.

She turned to look at him. "It's not even four o'clock, and she was up earlier worrying about this whole clash with her old team. Then, we had to get over here so you could capture one of the brats. Last but not least, he decided to spit at her. Yeah, she's got a little anger to take care of, and if this dumbass volunteered, that's his problem."

"Here I thought _you_ were supposed to be the cat-like one," Gizmo remarked.

"It is in the nature of all predators, not solely felines, though they do engage in that behavior more than most other species." Raven rose from her crouch looking only slightly tired, though that was probably the late hour catching up with her. The kid, on the other hand, stared straight ahead with a slack jaw; a little drool started leaking from one side of his mouth as they watched. "Unfortunately, it seems he was a minor peon. Most of what I could gather is already in the interrogation transcript Ruiz forwarded to us. Interestingly, there are no true squads as existed when you three were students; each base contains anywhere from twenty to thirty teenagers, with perhaps a half-dozen given special training to allow them to lead in a somewhat effective fashion. Whenever those individuals are commanded to commit a crime, they organize a team based on their personal preferences and who is available. It is also the leaders who have the devices used to contact Kyd Wykkyd, or Professor Wykkyd as he is now called, when they require an extraction."

Mammoth sidled over to the silent boy and gently poked him. The young meta slid along the wall until he hit the floor, never moving a muscle. "Uh, Raven? Is he supposed to be like this?"

"I may have shattered his psyche unintentionally; he refused to accept my presence in his mind, and so I had to be a tad more forceful than I wished. If he does not regain consciousness within the next few hours, we can safely assume that the damage is irreversible. Either way, we will have to capture another H.I.V.E. member later. Do you two need us for anything else tonight?" He and Gizmo shook their heads at her brusque tone, so she wrapped her arms around their pink-haired leader. "Then we will meet you here this afternoon. Do try to get some rest." With a whirl of darkness, the two women disappeared.

Glancing between his teammates' last location and the not-quite-dead body on the ground a few times, he muttered, "Scary."

"You said it, man," the tiny prodigy agreed from his chair. "But hey, at least she's on _our_ side."

* * *

**He he he. Remember Raven's "present" to Gizmo in **_**Coincidence**_**? There was a reason behind that, and it wasn't just so I get her and Jinx to screw each other silly.**

**I still don't like him, but I won't deny that Beast Boy makes a decent comic relief character. Also, don't think the Titans getting their butts kicked happens regularly; they were just **_**completely**_** unprepared to deal with a new-and-improved Mammoth.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	6. Toxic Grudge

**Ranon:** Actually, neither of those deaths would be murder. Mammoth observed firsthand the HIVE kids robbing a bank and killed the metal-bonding girl while attempting citizen's arrest, which is legal in California (where DC placed Jump City) since he had reason to believe she posed a threat to the lives of others, not to mention she used lethal force first. There aren't any laws about using telepathy to interrogate criminals, so Raven's in the clear as well.

**Dyc:** Only Mammoth has a Red X suit. Gizmo stays in base, Jinx would break it the first time she tried to fight in it just like she did the pistol in chapter 1, and Raven… well, to her it's just dead weight.

**Deathnoteuser:** The Titans have no reason to believe that Red X is someone they've faced before. That said, you'll just have to wait and see where Cyborg's thoughts take him : )

**Just so you know, there's a bit of a data dump in the first scene. Twice, actually.**

**Disclaimer:** Was Starfire's behavior completely different in the episode "Go" than anywhere else in the series? If so, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 6  
****Toxic Grudge**

With a sharp tug on the magic she had spooled out, Raven bound the edges of the weave to the runes meticulously chalked on the building's walls. "Dezagun Nemo Ezsartu Siet," she chanted. In response to her will and words, the fledgeling ward snapped into place.

This was the last of the defenses she had planned. The team was using as their temporary headquarters a deserted clothing store three miles outside Jump's _de facto_ limits; though it was still technically part of the city, it may as well be in the middle of the desert considering the dearth of people. As with all towns, Jump had shifted position gradually as time passed, and areas that were once the heart of the city became rundown, integrated into a ghetto, abandoned, and finally forgotten over the march of years. Such was the case here. Normally she would have suggested they find another location to work from, but Gizmo had already pronounced the security center adequate before spending the past couple of days refurbishing it to run his supercomputer and pirating the city's electricity and fiber optics.

_And to think, just a few years ago I would have been up in arms over him stealing these utilities._

She lowered her feet to the ground and stretched to alleviate the tightness that had developed during her several-hour hover; smiling faintly at the steady thrum of her protections, she began making her way to the loading dock at the rear of the building. Whenever they set up bases for their missions, she normally erected a suite of useful and fairly basic wards: structural reinforcement, fire suppression, and gravimetric stabilization — black holes spawning around them _once_ was one time too many — just to name a few. Here, however, she had added another that would counter any attempt at transpositional teleportation.

Teleportation was a bit of an umbrella term, covering any magical or parapsychic method of transferring something from one place to another. The most common, and the one Kyd Wykkyd was capable of, was transposition, where the teleporter would superimpose two locations in space and then use that juncture to travel with minimal physical movement. This process also required the object to be teleported to shift into a temporary transition state, one where it was in both locations at the same time yet simultaneously in neither of them. Especially stable intersections could last for minutes at a time with constant supervision and serve as portals. It was even possible for this mechanism to be replicated technologically thanks to quantum entanglement, which Richard had done when designing the Red X suit.

As dangerous as that manner of teleportation sounded, it was actually the safest. Spatial compression, also a popular choice, was simpler in that it merely squeezed the intervening distance between two points into a negligible span, allowing a person to 'jump' to her destination. Unfortunately, no one caught between those points was guaranteed protection from the physical effects of miles of space being compressed into a few atoms' widths, making this the most perilous method from a bystander's perspective unless the teleporter made use of extremely magical or arguably divine artifacts, such as Herald's Horn of Gabriel.

Other alternatives included reconstructional transference, where the person or thing to be teleported was duplicated in exact detail from local materials and destroyed in the original location, and dimensional tunneling, which was how Raven had arrived on Earth following her banishment from Azarath. The latter was also the _only_ way to actually cross between parallel dimensions, though many who used it were unaware of that fact, and she did not intend to enlighten them. After all, its most common application throughout human history was summoning demons.

Not something she wished to encourage.

Raven often said that teleportation was one of her innate abilities, and that was correct to some extent, but she could not _truly_ teleport in that she moved instantaneously between two distant points. Drawing herself partially into Nevermore, she instead took advantage of her soulself's phasing property to fly in a straight line to her destination _through_ whatever obstacles were in her way. Because her mindscape also constituted an entire personal dimension, a trait unique to those of demonic heritage, the overlap between the two planes allowed her to bend a few laws of physics and reach extreme speeds. In fact, most of her time 'teleporting' was spent at the tail ends of acceleration and deceleration; whether she traveled one mile or ten thousand miles, the few seconds' delay was for all practical purposes constant.

She had once found herself wondering if interstellar trips would take noticeably longer or if she was capable of hurtling herself faster than light given enough space. After careful consideration, she decided that either one was a distinct possibility, though relativistic concerns made her hesitant to find out. Perhaps, when her life was at a close, she would finally answer that question.

Shaking herself from her reverie, she realized her feet had carried her unerringly to her current destination and knocked sharply on the metal door. "It's open!" came from inside. She tamped down her magic and cautiously entered her lover's den of strange sights, sounds, and smells.

What had once been a large open space for receiving deliveries was now a chaotic conglomeration of _stuff_; the best way she had ever been able to describe Jinx's studio was two parts pre-industrial kitchen, one part novelty shop, one part foundry, and three parts mad scientist's laboratory. Bundles of herbs were hung to dry over foot-tall crucibles full of molten metal while concentric circles of salt bounded an operational Jacob's ladder that she was sure had been 'rescued' from a Hollywood storehouse. In one corner, quartz crystals pulsed rhythmically with an inner glow; next to them was a clay tea kettle out of which tendrils of sand were thrashing. The center of the room was devoted to a steel framework that bounced sunlight between numerous mirrors before directing the focused beam into a block of ice as large as her torso, the water that melted from it dripping into a bucket of some gelatinous substance.

Raven was a talented sorceress and an intelligent woman, but she was perfectly willing to admit that she did not have a clue what purpose ninety percent of these things served. Then again, she was not an alchemist like her betrothed.

Not all magic was predicated on mystical might, but alchemy was probably the sole discipline where it was actually a hindrance. As the art depended on using purely environmental energy sources to transfer qualities from one material to another, powerful witches could not work it without 'tainting' the process, and the mere presence of a sorceress for any longer than a few minutes would do the same. Considering faulty alchemic compounds were liable to be highly explosive rather than inert, she had actively avoided any experimentation in that field.

For someone like Jinx, however, who on the spectrum of magical strength ranked as a flyweight, it was perfect.

She carefully picked her way through the disassembled contraptions littering the floor on her way to the very back of the room. Sure enough, there was the pinkette, stirring a wide vat that would not look out of place in a medieval washroom. "Just a sec, okay? This stage is kinda delicate." Raven backed several feet away and readied her soulself to shield the other woman.

Closer to two minutes later than the second she had requested, Jinx finally rose from her hunched-over position. She spooned a massive dollop of lemon-yellow goop from the cauldron onto a cookie sheet; thick glass plates the size of a deck of playing cards floated to the surface briefly before submerging once again. "Now that just needs to sit for a while and soak in. I figured I better top off the rest of Baran's batteries if we're gonna be getting in more fights with the Titans."

Raven nodded in comprehension. The original Red X suit ran on energy derived from the rapid decay of xenothium, a liquid alloy of polonium, radium, and mercury that was even more hazardous than the components themselves indicated. When the addition of radioactive uranium made a compound _less_ prone to poisoning everything around it, it was a very bad sign. In addition to being nearly impossible to transport, handle, or even _be in the same room with_ safely, the witches' brew was incredibly reactive to oxygen, turning into a miniature mushroom cloud should a single crack develop in the protective housing. Needless to say, that had been the first aspect Gizmo scrapped when adapting the suit for Mammoth's use.

Richard was not an idiot, though, and it soon became clear to them why he chose to power the walking suicide vest as he had. For all its mystique, the ammunition for the weapon systems was nothing more than cutouts from thin sheets of steel; the various properties those metal projectiles had when they were fired was the result of a highly-advanced transmutation engine that he had somehow simplified to fit in the sections of his utility belt. Xenothium's original use, and in fact the reason it had been developed in the first place, was providing the necessary energy to produce rare elements on demand for industrial applications, though its volatility meant the process never reached factory floors.

Of course, had he simply _asked_ for a means to turn plain steel into other materials during the design process, Raven would have promptly informed him that technology would never trump magic in this task. Between her research and Jinx's burgeoning skill in alchemy, they were quick to replace the most frustrating of the suit's systems with robust alternatives that could be powered by a few portable energy cells, such as those the pinkette had been recharging.

The power supply was not the only alchemy used in the suit. The helmet had a nigh-unbreakable visor that was perfectly transparent from within yet had zero visibility looking through the other side, and the fabric that made up most of it was a self-repairing material Jinx had created by imbuing Kevlar with properties from copper, titanium, and — somehow — lizards. Raven did not know how that worked, and quite frankly she was scared to ask.

"You wanted me to come here when I was finished with the wards?"

Jinx nodded and grabbed her hand before leading her out and down the hall. "Yep. I know you, and right now you're beating yourself up over scrambling that kid's head."

A grimace appeared on Raven's face; her actions earlier that morning had been inexcusably excessive. Had she simply been willing to slow down and spend another minute or two inside the boy's mind, she likely could have pilfered the information she was after without causing permanent damage. She had not, however, and now she regretted her irate haste. Though her telepathy made her capable of interrogating people, her temperament made it one of her least preferred activities.

"So," the former thief continued blithely, "it struck me that what you really need is a break. No fighting, no worrying, no prep, just the two of us going on a little afternoon date." They stopped in front of an office room they had left as it was, not expecting to need it during their tenure. "I brought you a few changes of civvies; you've got five minutes to pick one out and get dressed before I drag you into town, no matter how much or little you're wearing." With that, Hurricane Jinx swept away, leaving Raven standing there much bemused.

_Wait, we are doing __**what**__?_

* * *

Starfire was not someone who enjoyed being alone. Like many Tamaraneans, she generally considered loneliness to be one of the worst things that could ever happen to her or anyone else. It was why she constantly invited the other Titans to join her in whatever activity had caught her attention at the time; there were few reasons for people to _want_ to be by themselves when they had friends they could be with.

Yet sometimes, even the most social of butterflies needed some solitude, at least for a few minutes.

The empress-elect floated to a stop in the skies above Jump's large outdoor mall. Here was where she did her reflecting on those rare times it was needed, where a simple downwards glance would let her feel connected with a group. Right now, she desperately needed to put her mind in order.

_Everything is happening much too fast_, she thought, spinning idly in the air. _We have been unable to stop the H.I.V.E., and now this Fake Red X has appeared? If he were less harmful, we would gladly let him join us, but he killed one criminal for certain and probably killed the boy he took with him as well._ She shivered in the hot summer breeze. In her months with the Gordanians who had unintentionally brought her to this world, she had seen a number of her fellow Tamaraneans tortured and eventually killed purely for the entertainment of the slave traders. She herself had served as the after-dinner fun for the lizard-like aliens on several occasions, though less so than others due to her value as royalty. _Her_ trials were set to truly begin once she reached the Citadel.

Thanks to constant attempts at brainwashing during her captivity to make her more passive and less of a threat, she could only vaguely recall what she had been like before then, but what she _did_ remember sickened her. Witnessing the pointless murder of so many of her species had created in her a deep aversion to killing, something completely at odds with the proud warrior she used to be. She could not even bring herself to slay food-animals any longer, though she knew she had been an excellent hunter on Tamaran and that it had been a favorite pastime of hers. This was why she had embraced Love Nightwing's philosophy so completely; it allowed her to protect her home and be part of the team that was now her family, but did not force her to take another's life. It was also one of the reasons she had refused time after time to take her place on the throne of her home-world: a queen who could not kill, could not wage war against their enemies, would not remain queen for long. The crown would go to another family, and historically the first thing a new royal line did was seek out and eliminate every last member of the previous one.

The imperial advisors did not know of this change in her, hence their increasing demands that she take her proper position in their society. Starfire was in no hurry to tell them, either.

_The H.I.V.E., Fake Red X, and the advisors. Oh, and I can not forget the demon that will be coming here! What is next, Slade?_ She sighed and scrubbed her face with her hands. Sadly, the demon situation was the easiest to resolve if the Justice League would just listen to her! It was obvious who would be responsible.

The banished Titan. The _grzzt'glog_.

Raven.

Her eyes itched from her energy beams demanding to be unleashed on the half-demon, wherever she was. Had not Raven summoned the last demon to ravage the world? Did they not _see_ that she could not be trusted? It did not matter that Raven had not wrought the expected carnage and chaos since she vanished; her lies had been torn away, showing everyone what she really was.

Trigon's daughter, nothing more.

For some reason, her teammates could not seem to understand the source of her hatred for the traitor. Friend Cyborg had tried many times to convince her that no one could help who they fell in love with, that she should not blame Raven for her hidden relationship with the Jinx. _'She was just scared of how we would react'_, he said. Well, _obviously_ that was not her problem; if anything, it was really rather romantic, like _Poshtagle and T'Kalleh_ come to life. Nor was she angry or disgusted that Raven was attracted to another woman. Tamaraneans did not care about the gender of their sexual partners; the emotional connection that could only be found in bed was much more important than what anatomy the other individual possessed.

Friend Beast Boy believed her fury was due to Raven modifying his memories, and while that was not the main issue, it _was_ something the two of them would have had harsh words over. Memories and emotions were what made people who they were, and casually violating what should be sacrosanct had revealed a disturbing side to her former teammate. On the other hand, Raven had demonstrated again and again that she placed little to no importance on anyone's emotions, not even her own. If it were just that, Starfire might have ultimately forgiven her for what could be construed as a massive overreaction to her secret romance coming to light.

Unfortunately, the vicious destruction of the Doctor Light's mind proved that it was not desperation that prompted that mental attack. That had been unnecessary and pointless violence on the man's very being, something that was a heinous crime on any _civilized_ world. For all her love of Earth, she knew the planet was by no means the most progressive society in existence, and that there were no laws granting protection of this basic right was proof enough in her view. It was not the most backwards, either; Raven's comment during her betrayal that Azarath commonly practiced telepathic neutering to condition its citizens prompted visions of a culture so twisted and evil that it _deserved_ to be erased from the multiverse. It also gave them a potential source for many of the half-demon's flaws that could not be attributed to her vile blood.

More than once, Friend Persephone had challenged her attitude by claiming that as Terra she had betrayed the team just as much, if not more, than Raven had. The stone-manipulator refused to acknowledge that the circumstances were completely different. Yes, the blonde had sided with Slade against them, but the criminal mastermind had been her sole guide for years. It was also clear to everyone that she had not _wanted_ to harm her new friends, but she had no other choice. Even so, she had turned against Slade in the end, and Starfire was convinced it was that willingness to correct her mistakes at the cost of her own life that prompted the goddess Gal'rassi to allow Friend Terra's reincarnation as Friend Persephone so she might continue with her interrupted existence.

The contrast between the two was startling. When Starfire first discovered that Raven had a demon as a parent, she had horrified on one hand, but on the other she was so _proud_ of the girl. Here was someone who has spent her entire life fighting her own nature, refusing to succumb to her primal urges for conquest and genocide. Could anything bend this being's iron will?

It turned out that the answer was no; there had never been a will to bend. Oh, Raven had fought against her father, but it was not because she was a good person. If Trigon had taken over Earth, she would not be able to do so herself. Raven had used them for _years_, pretending to be someone she was not. There was no other explanation for her overnight transformation; the former heroine had not started down a slippery slope of bad decisions that finally resulted in her transformation into something she hated. No, she had just chosen one day to remove the mask she had hidden behind for so long.

Starfire had looked into Raven's eyes after the half-demon pulled her hood up, and those four slits did not hold regret or shame. All that was there was self-satisfaction and cruel amusement. Her eyes made it clear that they had been deceived for the entire time they had known her, as well as how much entertainment she had had at their expense.

They should have known from the beginning. Why else would Raven spend so much time alone if she had nothing to hide? Why would she tell them nothing about herself? The insinuation that she kept all her secrets because they did not beg to be let into her confidence just added insult to injury. Like they were really supposed to believe that Raven was silent because she thought they did not care! If she wanted them to become closer as friends, she should have taken the first step and shown interest in being part of the group without having to be dragged into it. Even _children_ knew that, yet the highly intelligent sorceress claimed not to? Preposterous!

Her anger manifesting as glowing starbolts, the Tamaranean turned her attention to the mall below her. A pink blob moving through the crowd to one side caught her attention, and a closer look made her blood boil in righteous fury. With a snarled war cry, she pulled one arm back and let the energy blast streak towards its target.

* * *

As they left the dairy store, Jinx couldn't help but snicker at Raven's careful attention to her towering ice cream cone. The other women glanced over at the sound, her tongue still resting on the scoops of triple-chocolate butterscotch swirl. When her quirked eyebrow did not elicit a response, she pulled her sweet treat away. "What is it?"

"I just find it funny that you're usually so health-conscious, but every time we get ice cream, you always pick the richest, most decadent choice they have."

"Health-conscious?" Raven repeated, blinking in confusion. "Why in the world would you say that?"

The pinkette could not help but grin at that opening. "Well, you never eat anything, and you're always drinking tea. Combine that with all the exercise you do, and the only reason I can come up with is that you're watching your figure." She knew the real reason Raven drank tea so much — her hybrid physiology turned the stimulant into an anxiolytic, allowing her to deal with stressful situations with a clear head — and the half-demon was like a snake in that she could go for weeks between meals if she really wanted to, but truth should never stand in the way of good fun.

A glint appeared in the woman's eye, one both dangerous and amused. "Jinx, my love, did you just call me fat?"

"Not at all, but if _you_ think you are…" Swiping the five-lump cone out of Raven's hand before she could react, Jinx continued, "…Then I will save you from temptation. I _am_ a good girlfriend, after all."

"More like you are an unscrupulous thief."

"Damn straight. Still, you knew what kind of person I was when we first started dating, and definitely before you popped the question. Don't blame me for your terrible taste in women." Just to tweak her fiancée's nose further, she took a few quick licks from the dessert. The thick chocolate melded wonderfully with the wedding cake flavor of her own. _Hmm, maybe we should have a chocolate cake at our reception._

"You act as if I had a choice." Raven's lips curled in a soft smile. "After you broke in and stole my heart, there was little chance I could stay away even if I wanted to."

Jinx halted in her tracks at the uncharacteristically romantic line. Her shock cost her; with her attention diverted, the sorceress's hand swept in and retrieved the sweet. The previous smile morphing into a smirk, Raven licked the entire stack of ice cream, deliberately running over all the spots her mouth had touched. The seductive action ended with Raven looking sideways at her and humming as she quite clearly savored the taste.

"You know, if you're so determined to use your tongue on something…"

"There are _children_ present," the lavender-haired woman interrupted with a roll of her amethyst eyes. "I would be remiss if I allowed you to corrupt them."

"You think I can corrupt them more than the internet has? Your confidence in my abilities astounds me." A confused frown worked its way onto her face. "Still, you don't want me talking about your talent in the bedroom around strangers you'll never see again, but you let me mess with your own kids all the time? How does that make sense?"

Raven shrugged. "I must admit that I believed living in a monastery would insulate them from your depravity somewhat. Going by Melvin's wardrobe, however, the monks were clearly not up to the task."

_Oh no, you don't get to pull this shit again._ She moved her cone to her left hand and slung her right arm around her lover's waist. "Uh-huh. Blaming little old me like always. Not this time, girl. I'm just Aunt Jinx to them, remember? You're the one they look up to. If anyone's corrupting them, you just have to look in a mirror for the culprit."

"Except whenever I do that, my eyes inevitably turn to the nymph under the covers. You know, the one who —"

Whatever Raven planned to say was forgotten as a grey hand grabbed Jinx's shoulder and shoved her forwards. Spinning around, that same limb swept through the air and created a smear of black. It was just in time, too; not a second after it was formed, a ball of plasma hit the shield and exploded. The darkness cleared to reveal a very angry alien princess hovering in the sky above them.

_Oh, come on! Can't these idiot leave us the fuck alone for just one day?_

Raven was the epitome of calm as she stared down her former teammate. "Koriand'r, what an unpleasant surprise. Is there something I can help you with?"

Starfire's response was a barrage of energy bolts, each one bursting on another soulself barrier.

Anyone who didn't know the half-demon as well as Jinx did would have missed the slight narrowing of her eyes and the faintest gritting of her teeth. "Obviously you need someone to remind you how it feels to be on the receiving end of a… What did you call it? Oh, yes," her grin was anything but happy, "a _'kicking of the butt'_. Permit me to be that person."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Raven waved off Jinx's question and passed her the ice cream in her other hand. "I am grateful for your concern, but it is unnecessary. Make sure the bystanders are out of danger, then just sit on the sidelines like a good little guardian angel."

The leader of Team Black Magic smirked at that. Tipping an imaginary hat to her lover, she made to get away.

"Oh, and sweetie? My dessert had better be just as it is now when I return, or you will find yourself tied to the bedposts and at my nonexistent mercy tonight. _That_ I guarantee."

_And she gets mad at __**me**__ for cracking jokes at inappropriate times?_ Shaking her head, Jinx sprinted off. Most of the populace had already figured out that they didn't want to get any closer to this disaster in the making, so all she had to do was usher an old deaf woman on her way before she could move into position for her part in Raven's plan. She stuck the paper cones into one of the little ashtrays found on every single public trash can in the city before searching for a nearby fire escape. A gutter pipe worked just as well, and a jump and quick shimmy up later, she was laying on the building's roof.

She cupped her hands together, concentrating on making a hexbolt stable enough to fly true for a good distance. In Initiative parlance, being a _'guardian angel'_ could mean only one thing: get out of sight and blast the target the instant she had the shot. _Heroes may be able to afford honor in their fights, but those of us in covert ops? Nah, we do whatever it takes to complete the mission and come home alive. If that includes pulling a sniper and blowing some asshole's head off his shoulders in front of his wife and kids, so be it._

_Then again_, she thought as she watched Raven's and Starfire's fight progress, _she might not need my help, after all._

* * *

**Many words can describe Starfire; **_**subtle**_** isn't one of them. She can't do subtle, and she doesn't necessarily understand it, either.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	7. Catfight!

**Ranmyaku Kiritsu:** My disclaimers aren't really _bitter_; I just find it entertaining to point out the little things in canon that I don't like or that don't make sense.

**Faraway-R:** That's a good question about Starfire's bolts; they very well might be weaker than they otherwise should be. Her problem — well, _one_ of them — is that the cultures and values of Tamaran and Azarath are so different that they would see each other as cesspools of barbarism in desperate need of guidance. Combine that with her… _naïveté_ would probably be the best word… and you have a recipe for disaster.

**Spikesagitta:** Ah, I thought I had been clearer. Jinx's hair first caught Starfire's attention, but her actual attack was aimed at _Raven_.

**Deathnoteuser:** Robin probably did alert the monastery, but the monks would have chosen to trust their own eyes and ears. Besides, if they kept Raven away, Melvin would have been upset, and by that point… I would be scared of making that girl cry.

**skywiseskychan:** Why is Starfire so sure that Raven was lying all those years? It's for the same reason her reaction was so over the top and why she's okay with potentially killing her ex-teammate. Keep reading…

**Even if you don't normally do so, it might behoove you to read the last scene of the previous chapter again.**

**Disclaimer:** Did the Titans ever really branch out from their initial skill sets? If not, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 7  
****Catfight!**

"Twice now you have attacked me unprovoked," Raven stated softly, her apparent serenity belied by the black aura manifesting around her hands. "For the sake of our former friendship, I shall offer you this one… _last_… opportunity to withdraw peaceably."

A bright green glow surrounded Starfire's own as the Tamaranean aimed her fists at the half-demon. "You are under arrest, Raven. Come quietly, or I will be forced to incapacitate you."

"Oh? Under arrest? Very well." She spread her arms wide, her voice taking on a taunting edge. "Except, I seem to have forgotten exactly what crime I have committed. Perhaps you can elucidate that for me? Surely you do not seek to violate the very laws you claim to uphold."

"Assault, torture, and murder," Starfire growled.

Raven's smile held not a hint of humor. "If you could prove any one of those, there would be a warrant out for my arrest, and it would be the Justice League coming after me, not you. Koriand'r of Tamaran, you are a pitiful liar."

That was too much for the airborne alien, and a ball of plasma streaked at Raven. The darkness flowing from her palms formed a large talon in response, and she plucked the starbolt from its path. She grinned. "My turn." The claw whipped through the air and flung the orb back.

Rather than watch the aftermath of her counterattack, she let her soulself wash over her body, switching the red tank-top and black shorts — the least embarrassing of the options Jinx had left in the base for her — for a dark blue, shoulderless leotard complete with loincloth-like panels to give the garment an appearance closer to an evening gown, as well as boots reaching to her mid-thigh. This was actually the very first gift her betrothed had ever given her, and though she normally wore it for activities far removed from combat, the fact that she received it only minutes after breaking away from the Titans five years ago leant it a certain suitability for this fight. The soulself, now finished with its initial purpose, leapt off her and shifted into a shield to deflect a retaliatory starbolt. She rose into the air smoothly and waggled her index finger at her opponent. "Striking at me while I was changing clothes? That was quite rude. How displeased Richard would be if he were to see you not being fair enough to let me prepare myself."

She had to smother a grin as Starfire's ire skyrocketed further. Tamaraneans might derive their powers from emotion, but it remained true across species that all-consuming fury was _always_ a liability. It clouded reason, narrowed focus, and blinded one to the full set of available options. Sure enough, the alien let her ranged powers fade and shot forward in a reckless charge, exactly as Raven wanted her to do. A dark circle sprang into existence behind the sorceress, and from that portal to Nevermore issued several dozen of her namesakes.

_Not that any birdwatcher would mistake these with __**true**__ ravens. Avians generally do not have two sets of eyes, nor do they possess beaks filled with sharp fangs._ The fiends mobbed Starfire, attacking with talons and teeth. Now having a little space, Raven focused her will and manifested the object of her desires in her hands. She charged, her sharp weapon raised for a powerful overhead swing.

Swordsmanship was something she had become rather good at over the years, and it was all thanks to her sparring partner.

_The clash between broadsword and katana gave birth to a mass of sparks. Raven took several quick steps backwards; though she had learned much from her opposite, she knew the other woman was, and likely always would be, much better still. Against an opponent of this caliber, a hit-and-run strategy was the only path to victory while maintaining the engagement would inevitably lead to yet another defeat._

_Unfortunately, the second swordswoman refused to give her that much-needed space. The plain Japanese razor bit deeply into her wrist, severing the tendons to her fingers, and a swift slap sent the more ornate weapon to the mat. Cool steel rested gently against her throat. "Yield?"_

"_As if you need to ask." The sword moved away, allowing Raven to wrap a cool, blue aura around her injury. "Thank you for the match, Ravager."_

_The woman inclined her head slightly as she flicked crimson off her weapon and sheathed it next to its twin on her back. "Thank you as well. Without your help, my skills would surely become rusty. No one else is willing to spar with me."_

"_I doubt beating me time after time has actually let you improve much."_

"_I said you keep my skills polished, not that I have gotten better. You are not __**that**__ talented yet," the mercenary replied with a grin, straightening the ponytail from which several of her snowy locks had escaped. "Some of the other girls are talking about spending a few days of our downtime at one of the Florida beaches. You and Jinx interested?"_

_Raven sighed. "Jinx likely would be, but I am afraid we will have to give it a miss this time. Ruiz handed us new orders yesterday."_

"_Really? We just got done taking down the Brotherhood, and you and Mammoth were in the first wave. What has he got you doing this time?"_

_She opened her mouth to answer but closed it again as she recalled the photograph depicting their target. Looking over her friend, a suspicion began to form. _White hair, dark eyes, and a moderate healing factor. Did she not also mention once that her mother hid her away from her soldier father due to his erratic and violent behavior?_ "We are to eliminate a metahuman paramilitary terrorist group as well as their leader, a man going by the name of 'Slade'."_

"_Slade, huh?" Ravager echoed quietly. She stepped closer and laid a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Be careful, then. I've… heard a few things about him over the years. He's not someone you want to take lightly."_

"_We will be. If you would like, I can file a request that you be assigned to our team for the duration of this mission. You might find the experience… cathartic."_

_The swordswoman paused for a moment, seeming to seriously consider the offer, before she shook her head. "No, don't worry about it. Much as I wish I could, I'm pretty sure the brass wouldn't approve that one in a million years. Just… Give him hell for me, all right?"_

"_We can and will." She clutched Ravager's own shoulder and looked meaningfully into her eyes. "You have my word on that, Rose."_

Starfire managed to notice her approach at just the last moment, and Raven's broadsword crashed against the alien's bracers. She could not help the grin that appeared as she saw the astonished look on Starfire's face; the Tamaranean was obviously not expecting a strategy quite like _this_. _Yes, Koriand'r, I have learned a few new tricks while I was away. Let me show you another._ "Anitz Yafnau, Hirtelen Vliv." At her command, sixteen of the corvids split away from the strafing pattern the congress had taken, only to dive back in at a much greater speed. As they returned, their shapes melted and flowed, becoming a set of dark daggers hurtling through the air. So concentrated on Raven's larger blade was Starfire that she did not notice their approach until they swept past. The Titan flew back, blood streaming from the long, shallow gashes now littering skin that had already been covered liberally in small scratches and bites.

After a moment, those blemishes were hidden again as the birds and daggers followed her, keeping her always centered in the cloud of feathers and steel.

The mercenary joined this dance of danger, whirling around the borders of the flock and lashing out randomly with the tip of her sword. Any counterattack the alien launched was immediately blocked by the shadowy constructs; while they popped like soap bubbles around offensive magic, physically they were nigh-indestructible. Raven had spent quite some time practicing this maneuver specifically for targets who needed to be captured for interrogation, and so each strike was aimed not to maim or kill, but to distract and fatigue. Not even Starfire's hardy Tamaranean physiology could keep her going at full strength when she was gradually bleeding out. She would become slower, and when an opening presented itself, she could be struck down in a nonlethal manner.

"Incoming!"

The birds scattered; the daggers returned to nothingness. Starfire began a sluggish turn to the source of the cry, giving Raven an excellent perspective as her profile flashed pink and crackling static ran over her body.

_Or she could be shot in the back with a hexbolt. Either way, she is no longer a threat for the time being._

The Tamaranean plummeted from the sky like a stone, shattering the asphalt where she impacted. Raven dropped next to the crater and draped her healing powers over her former teammate. _Ventricular fibrillation. This is the only problem with Jinx using her hexes against another person; there is simply no predicting whether the resultant injury will be a sprained ankle, a broken bone, or something more serious such as, say, a __**heart attack**__._ She took a calming breath as Starfire's heart rhythm stabilized. _Thankfully it was something I can repair. If it had been brain damage of some flavor, we would have dead alien royalty on our hands, which the Titans and Justice League would hardly take lying down._

"Mammoth last night, and now Jinx and myself. We really need to keep in mind that this is not a war zone and that _these_ particular enemies need to be treated with kid gloves as much as possible. They are simply not prepared to face four hardened mercenaries," she muttered to herself.

A sound like gravel crunching underfoot reached her ears. "How is she?"

"She will survive, though I doubt she will return to full combat readiness for some time. Did you retrieve my dessert?"

"Seriously?" Jinx asked in response. "We just took down a Titan — who got fucking _nuts_ in the time we were gone, if you didn't notice that little fact — and you're worried about your damn _ice cream_?"

Raven twisted slightly to glare mildly at her betrothed. "Or, phrased another way, I just had to fight someone who used to be a friend, one who displayed a degree of hatred towards me that I honestly had not believed her _capable_ of feeling before today, and I would like something to soothe my nerves before I ferry her to the rest of my former team, which will certainly make the next time we encounter them even _more_ uncomfortable that it was already going to be. So yes, by every single member of my unholy kin in all nine circles, I want my _'damn ice cream'_."

"Oh, uh… yeah, I couldn't find it. I think some stupid kid came by and took 'em both while we were otherwise occupied."

"_Fantastic_." She turned back to her patient. "Tonight, you are _mine_."

Jinx was nonchalant as she replied, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, dear."

"Tentacles."

"Sure, uh-hu— wait, what? Raven, please tell me that was a joke. Raven? Raven!"

She smiled unseen; the pinkette's dislike of erotic stimulation via tentacles like those found in hentai animation was one she was well-aware of, and though she had only conjured them once, the threat of their return never failed to disconcert the normally self-confident woman and thereby amuse _her_. _The real question now is how do I convince the Titans that striking back at us will not be in their best interests? It needs to be something obvious, threatening enough that they consider my words carefully but not so much so that they call in the Honorary Titans across the globe and distract us from our objective. What to do?_

"Good grief, it's a fucking ice cream cone! If you want it that badly, I'll gladly buy you another one. It's not like they're expensive or some shit like that… Um, Raven?" The change in Jinx's tone caught her attention, and she looked up. The acrobat awkwardly glanced about at the silent crowd gathering around them. "Help?"

* * *

Cyborg raised his head as the doors to the Tower's command center slid open. He shot to his feet; the entrant was Starfire, and it was clear she had just been in a serious battle. The alien's head was down as she staggered to the center of the room, blood painting her orange skin red and staining her tattered clothes. "What the hell?"

Nightwing was not so restrained. "Star! What happened? Are you okay?"

The voice that issued forth was, much to their shock, _not_ Starfire's. "I am doing quite well, Richard, thank you for asking." She raised her head, and rather than emerald eyes looking back at them, they found a pair of familiar amethysts. "Koriand'r, on the other hand… not so much. I do believe she will need to be carried to the infirmary once I have said my piece."

"_Raven._ What the _hell_ did you do to her?!"

"Possession, obviously." Starfire/Raven raised a finger to ward off further comments from the masked hero. "However, before you begin attributing blame, you might wish to turn on the local news. You should find it _most_ illuminating."

Cyborg moved to the console for the wide window that doubled as a computer screen, all the while his mind raced as he tried to figure out Raven's angle. This was _not_ the 'not causing trouble' she had promised him and Persephone a few days earlier. He flipped on the screen and set it to Channel 3 News. "Okay, what now?"

"Watch."

"…_And now, we have one of the eyewitnesses to today's attack here with us,"_ the reporter said before turning to a stressed-looking woman. _"Ms. Robertson, can you tell us what happened?"_

"_Ye-yes. Um, I was with my kids here at the outdoor mall to, uh, shop for my husband's birthday when I noticed Starfire in the sky a bit away. My kids were getting really excited and begging me to let them ask her for an autograph — they adore the Titans, you know, what children don't love their superheroes? — but then she just started attacking people in the middle of the street!"_

The reporter nodded. _"What next?"_

"_Well, it was like everything was happening in slow motion. I thought we were all going to die, but then this big, black… __**thing**__ just appeared out of nowhere and blocked her attack. Everyone started panicking and shoving people out of the way, and that's when I saw her. It was __**Raven**__ who was protecting us again, almost like she hadn't been gone these past few years! She tried to talk Starfire down, but when that didn't work, she went up in the air with her. I wouldn't even called it a fight, really, because once she started hitting back, Starfire couldn't do a thing._

"_After a few minutes, Raven did something, some magic I guess, and shocked Starfire before throwing her to the street. She and some punk chick she had been talking to before all this started made sure Starfire wasn't too hurt and calmed everyone down, and then she teleported the three of them away."_

"_And how did your children take one of their heroes being beaten up in front of them?"_

"_They were scared that Starfire would do something like this, but they're not taking it as badly as they could be. I think it's because they have a new favorite,"_ the woman replied with a faint smile. _"Now I just hope my oldest doesn't start asking if she can get tattoos like Raven was covered with or dye her hair pink like the other girl."_

"I just cannot take Jinx anywhere," Raven commented, dragging their attention away from the screen. "She has gotten to the point where she is corrupting local youth without even _trying_. Then again, she _was_ labeled publicly as _'some punk chick'_, so I suppose her head will not swell overmuch from today's fiasco."

"You set this up, didn't you?!" Nightwing demanded.

"You think _I_ did this? Truly?" She threw her head back and laughed loudly, a sound none of them had ever heard come out of her throat. It gradually slowed down to dry chuckles, Raven shaking Starfire's head in a fashion they had not seen from anyone else in the past five years. "Oh, if I could engineer something like this, I would retire and make a fortune producing reality television shows. No, the culprit of that disaster is right here." She laid a hand on the middle of the alien's chest. "Perhaps you should drill Koriand'r in how _not_ to paint herself, and by extension the rest of you, in such a terrible light. As you just heard, she attacked me, completely unprovoked, while Jinx and I were doing nothing more villainous than enjoying each other's company on an afternoon outing."

She frowned slightly. "Then again, this may be your new _modus operandi_; I would not know. It seems a tad _'Evil Overlord'_ to me personally, but your reputation with the city's citizens is really none of my concern. What _is_ my concern is ensuring that a second conflict like this one does not occur."

"Don't bet on that," Nightwing snarled, extending a pair of short staves and tensing for battle. "We're going to be coming after you with everything we have."

"Brilliant plan, Richard, preparing to fight me right here and now. Please, come, attack, shatter my bones and destroy my internal organs. Oh, wait, _this is not my body_." Raven's eyes rolled their borrowed orbits as he flushed in embarrassment. Cyborg was hard-pressed not to snicker; Raven had always had a talent for pricking inflated egos, and it seemed her tongue had not dulled one whit. "One would think you and Koriand'r are having relationship troubles if you are so willing to injure her at the first opportunity.

"I have many better things to do than become embroiled in a battle with you five at the moment. That said, if you honestly wish a war with me, I can provide you with one. I feel I should warn you, however, that you would not enjoy it, nor would you _survive_ it. I would have no compunctions against stringing your broken bodies along this tower for all the world to see and letting the birds feast on your flesh until your eventually collective demise." The human half of Cyborg's face paled at the bold threat being delivered in such a clinical, uncaring tone, and a quick glance told him he wasn't the only scared one. "Do you now understand? You are _clearly_ not ready to fight me if I can rip away your resolve with only a few words. It should relieve you, then, that I do not currently view you as enemies, though whether this state of affairs persists depends entirely on your actions. Weigh your options carefully, or you may find yourselves making a regrettable choice that you cannot take back.

"I believe I have said all I wish to say to you right now. Richard, Garfield, Victor, Lisa. Until we meet again." Purple eyes returned to Starfire's natural green, and a black fog billowed out from her skin. The Tamaranean slumped to the ground as the darkness congealed into a bird's silhouette and took a long look at each of them with four glowing eyes. It screeched, the sound more like that from a vicious eagle than a raven of any size, then, with a single flap of its vast wings, it rocketed through the ceiling.

"Dudes? Did what I think just happened just happen?"

"Do you think Raven came in here to tell us to leave her alone or she'll kill us all slowly and messily?" Persephone shakily asked. "Cause if so, yeah, that just happened."

Cyborg lifted the fallen alien in his arms and forced confidence he didn't feel into his voice. "Let's get Star to the med wing. I wanna hear her explanation for why she started throwin' starbolts outta the blue like the news was sayin'."

It did not take long after she was hooked to the IV drip and had the worst of her wounds bandaged for Starfire to wake back up. "Ugh, did anyone catch the herd of _blurgatim_ that just stampeded on top of me?"

"Did that herd take the form of a very pissed-off Raven? I wouldn't say we _caught_ her, exactly. She came to us."

She nodded a bit before Cyborg's words percolated through her skull. "Raven! Friends, Love Nightwing, she must be stopped!"

_O… kay? What brought this on?_

"Stopped from doing what, Star?" Nightwing asked gently.

"The demon that Master Batman warned us about! Raven is going to be the one to summon it, and unless we work together now, she will be too powerful for us to defeat her!"

He held up a hand to quiet the woman. "Back up to the beginning real quick. Raven told you that she was goin' to unleash a demon on Jump City?" He was — tentatively — open to the idea that the sorceress was willing to do many things to achieve whatever goals she had, but bringing a demon to Earth? That he had trouble swallowing. _Not to mention that Raven was never one for making pointless, gloating monologues. Even her comin' here was for a purpose: to convince us not to fight her or her new team if we value our lives._ A flash of inspiration came to him. _But I think we may have already done that. If that was Mammoth in the Red X suit last night, now we know how he got it. Raven could have just downloaded the designs before or right after she resigned; she had the means, the opportunity, and, considerin' how angry she was at Night at the time, __**definitely**__ the motive._

_Still, her behavior here doesn't make any sense. Why be so unconcerned about wagin' an all-out war with us if she doesn't want to fight? Unless… unless that was all an act. __**That's**__ why it seemed so odd; she's tryin' to scare us off so we don't cross paths again while they do whatever they're doin' with, or more likely __**against**__, the H.I.V.E._ A faint smile graced his lips. _If she's really a spy — after all, she didn't deny it when Seph asked — mind games would be something she's used to. Pullin' this on people who know her well, though? Risky, risky move. She's probably hopin' with everything she's got that we don't call her bluff._

"Well, she did not _say_ it, no," Starfire prevaricated, dragging him from his musings, "but why else would she be here? She is a danger to everyone."

With his new understanding of his friend's plan, he leapt to her defense. "That's a big claim, but so far, you haven't given us a single shred of evidence."

The Tamaranean shot up in bed. "She is a _demon_; there is all the evidence we need! Evil is in her blood, and though she tried to hide it from us, we all saw what she is truly like!"

"Just because her father was a monster doesn't mean _she_ is," Persephone retorted sharply. She then gave the metallic man a significant look. Though she couldn't know what he was thinking, she was apparently willing to follow his lead until he had an opportunity to explain it to her. _That and she probably has a stronger friendship with Raven than even I do. I remember the Raven of years ago; she knows the one we're dealin' with __**right now**__._

"How else can you explain her sudden difference in appearance, in personality? Not all demons are like Trigon. Some can disguise themselves, make themselves look like they belong. Then, when they have reached their goal, they reveal their true forms and destroy everything around them."

"How can you be so sure?" Cyborg growled. This little one-sided grudge Starfire had with Raven had gone on long enough. Disliking their former teammate, though he disagreed with her about it, was fine; people were entitled to their own opinions. If she was willing to put bystanders at risk, however… "Ignorin' the _five years_ she spent with us, years she was a friend who we trusted with our lives, she hasn't done a thing to lead us to believe she wants what you say she does."

The alien settled back down with a frown. "On my planet, we have a story that is told to all children. It is a part of history that we are not proud of, but we remember it so we do not repeat the same mistakes. Perhaps, once you hear it, you will understand my words."

"But Mommy, I'm too old for bedtime stories…" A heavy steel fist dropping on his head shut the shapeshifter up. "Dude, ow!"

"Be. Quiet." _This had better be good_, Cyborg thought crossly as he leaned against the wall and affixed Starfire with a steady stare.

"_Long ago, before we were all one people, Tamaran was divided into a number of smaller countries, much as Earth is today. War raged constantly between them, each striving to claim more and more land for their populations. We call this period the _Raas Gumi Talthagg_, the Wars Amongst Ourselves._

"_One country, at that time called Fersollis, had a king by the name of Juderik. His was once a prosperous kingdom, but over the centuries bits and pieces had been claimed by the neighboring states; his people were now starving and the land lay unproductive. When he came to the throne, he sought out the wisest men in his realm, but none of them could give him guidance on how to protect his land from those who sought to conquer it. As he read reports from his generals detailing the marshaling of foreign armies along his northern border, he fell into despair, and that was when there was a knock on his chamber door. A stranger had just arrived, bringing with him a strategy for defeating the much larger invading force._

"_That stranger's name… was Vithon._

"_A week later, Juderik led his troops against the opposing army. When the invaders saw how small and weak his forces were, they laughed and gave chase, planning to drag the body of the king through his city upon their arrival before they sacked it. Juderik fled through a long canyon, and when the foreign army was inside, he sprang Vithon's trap. He had many more warriors than he had led them to believe, all laying in wait, and at his signal they flew into the canyon after the northerners. Caught between the stone walls and unable to maneuver, the invaders were slain, not a single warrior left to tell the tale._

"'This is a perfect opportunity,'_ Vithon told Juderik when the king returned. _'That was surely the largest and strongest force they could raise on such short notice. If we attack them now, **we** can take **their** land rather than losing our own.'_ Juderik found Vithon's words sensible, and by following them he quickly conquered the would-be invaders. With a larger and more fertile territory, Fersollis's citizens grew healthy again._

"_But the nearby countries grew frightful of this newfound power and sought to undermine Juderik's successes. Here Vithon again gave counsel. _'These are small nations, and their warriors are weak compared to ours. Yet though we could defeat them with little trouble, we should make peace with them and form an alliance.'

"'An alliance?'_ Juderik asked his advisor. _'If they are so weak, why should we share our spoils with them?'

"_Vithon's answer was swift and cunning. _'Who said we need share the fruits of our labors? Let them **think** we will, and when we strike against Doardom to the east, send their forces in first. Our allies will die, yes, but they will wear down our enemies, leaving our well-rested warriors to defeat them. At the same time, bring the young into our country — for their own protection, of course — and teach them our ways so we may ultimately assimilate them while our people care for the land in their stead. In short order, there will be no Asim, no Parkun, no Shir'helva. Only Fersollis.'

"_This plan, too, succeeded, and so Juderik soon found himself ruling an ever-increasing number of countries, each of which carried its own name yet was Fersollis in truth. Other nations tried to mimic him, but without Vithon's guidance, all they did was make it easier for him to conquer their lands. In time, when Juderik had grown old, he discovered to his shock that his country extended over the whole of Tamaran, something no one had ever expected to happen. He named his realm an empire, and set himself up as its ruler._

"_And so rose the first Imperial line._

"'Congratulations, my Emperor,'_ Vithon told him after his investiture. _'You have achieved your dream, and a greater one besides. It is an honor to have served you these many years, but it is time we parted ways.'

"'You are leaving me?'_ Juderik asked in fear. He had lived his whole life in a time of war, and now that peace had been achieved, he found himself ill-equipped to maintain it. Without the call of battle and Vithon's words, he was lost._

"_Vithon, upon hearing Juderik's concern, had yet another suggestion. _'Why not extend your empire beyond Tamaran? I have heard whispers of a minor kingdom some stars away. They would be an **excellent** gem to add to your crown.'

"_Juderik was overjoyed at this news and quickly marshaled an army. Indeed, it was just as Vithon had said; the planet was weakly defended and soon fell. However, there the emperor found himself troubled. This was not a world of people to be conquered. Rather, it was an outpost of a greater military found at a far-off planet called the Citadel. While they nursed the wounded, a retaliatory fleet approached; the defenders had sent a message to their superiors during the fight. Many Tamaraneans died that day in the counterattack, including the emperor himself. His son, Julern, was the one who took the remnants of their army back to Tamaran, though that would not stop the Citadel's hatred of us._

"_However, their world was not as it had been when they departed. Large sections of the land were ravaged and barren, and __**billions**__ of people had been slaughtered by claw and flame. Marching into the now-ruined palace, Julern called out, _'Vithon! What has happened in our absence?!'_ But the one he saw was not who he expected._

"_Vithon, despite his previous appearance, was not a Tamaranean, for none of our people were ever born with white hair or red skin. Vithon had these, and four glowing eyes as well. He laughed at Julern's surprise and declared, _'It was by my words and plans that this world was conquered, and so it rightfully belongs to me. I, the weakest of my father's children, have achieved what he and my siblings could not; it is **I** who have carved out a foothold in this plane.'_ Julern was angered at this, but that pleased the demon only more. _'Much like your fool of a father, you lead with your hand rather than your head. If you desire revenge so much, come!'_ With that taunt, the demon created a portal and leapt into it._

"_Julern, full of righteous fury, led his forces through the portal, but Vithon, ever-cunning, had deceived them again. Shortly after their arrival in the demons' realm, they were ambushed by other minor demons Vithon had convinced to join him in an invasion of our dimension. Realizing the plan, the emperor led the army in their retreat to Tamaran. Our people are rarely blessed or cursed with the working of magic, and so the warriors fought with all their strength until the portal closed on its own, too taxing for Vithon to hold it forever. When the dead were counted, among them lay Julern, slain defending his people. He was buried next to his wife and children, the first of Vithon's victims._

"_And so __**fell**__ the first Imperial line._

"It was due to Vithon's lies that our war with the Citadel began nearly a thousand years ago," Starfire said sadly, "and that war is still ongoing. They were the ones who ordered the Gordanians to kidnap me, which led to my arrival here. Children on my planet are taught this story so that we may never find ourselves deceived by demons. Yet to my eternal shame, I allowed myself to be caught by Raven's pretty lies and her mixed blood. I thought her human half made her different, but she was simply hiding her true nature until we were weak and blinded by our faith in her."

Persephone's fists were clenched as she stepped closer to the alien. "Except that Raven isn't like that!"

"She is! She acted like our friend to gain our trust and then betrayed us, just as Vithon did to Juderik. If she learned her trade from that fiend directly, I would not be surprised!"

"Why do you think she would have _possibly_ done something like that, Starfire?" Cyborg asked, trying hard to maintain an air of calm. Inside, however, he was boiling. _She's honestly reinterpretin' Raven's actions in the worst possible light, based solely on an old legend? It isn't worth the time fightin' her about it, either; she is so sure she's right that she won't listen to any evidence to the contrary we give her. Her mind's already made up. The only thing we can do… is keep them as far away from each other as we can._

Unaware of his thoughts, the Tamaranean looked into his eyes guilelessly. "Because Vithon is Raven's older brother. They are both children of Trigon."

They all stopped for a moment as they processed that bit of information; in the end, it was Persephone who reacted first. A large wad of pinkish-red material flew from one of the pockets of her cargo pants and wrapped snugly about Starfire's wrists before attaching itself to the bed frame.

"Persephone!" Nightwing shouted in surprise. "What are you doing?!"

The blonde shrugged, completely unconcerned. "Keeping her from committing any crimes. We can't have her go around stealing crap and framing other people for it, can we?"

"What are you talking about, Friend Persephone? I would never do that!" Starfire tugged on the restraints, though they all knew it was pointless. Persephone's 'clay cuffs' were elastic enough that even Tamaranean strength would have trouble tearing them. Not that the alien could use it right now; her shock left no room in her head for any _'boundless confidence'_.

"But Blackfire, _your older sister_, has. You two were raised together. How do we know that you won't eventually start acting the same?" The earth-manipulator leaned forwards to stare into Starfire's eyes. "That _is_ what you were saying about Raven, right? That she was always a dangerous liar because of who her family is?" She rose and sneered. "Well, aren't you just a little hypocrite? Let's call a spade a spade, shall we? I think the _real_ reason you dislike her so much is because she kicked your ass, _twice_ now, and your pride just can't stand the thought that she could have overpowered any of us — hell, _all_ of us — any time she wanted. That's a pretty shitty call by someone who claims to care about her friends so much."

She walked to the infirmary's doorway and paused, turning to face them. "Raven, _my _friend if no one else's, has just as much right to be here as we do. If we run across her and any of you decide to harass her, _I_ will be the one to knock you down and drag you through the city to the JCPD. And it _would_ be harassment," she added to Nightwing's open mouth. "You want to cause her trouble, lock her up in the slammer? Get a goddamn warrant." The doors sliding shut behind her seemed to slam in the sudden silence.

_Gotta love her spunk_, Cyborg thought with a mirthless mental chuckle, _but now __**I'm**__ the one who has to run damage control._

"Don't worry, Star. I'll have a talk with her—"

"Beast Boy, when was the last time you could convince Seph of anything?" he asked, interrupting the polymorph. "What we need to do is calm down. We don't, and we're either goin' to find ourselves on the wrong side of the jail doors or this team will tear itself apart. Starfire, you especially have to stay away from Raven if you can't keep yourself under control." He raised a hand to forestall her coming denial and pinned her with a glare. "You're bein' _fried_ on the TV for that little stunt you pulled today, and I'm honestly afraid to see what you'd do next time. You spot her again, you turn right around and go the other direction. You might be a princess on _your_ world, but either you follow _our_ laws while you're Earthside or the JL will have no choice but to escort you back home."

Emeralds began glistening with tears. He had known that last comment was going to cut deep, but she needed to realize just how badly she had screwed up. With Raven's _unconfirmed_ connections to the intelligence community and likely through them to the military, he didn't want to find out what resources were now accessible to the half-demon if she had to follow through with her threats.

Raven was never one to speak carelessly; if she said she would bring them a _war_, she meant exactly that, no matter if it had started off a bluff or not. _That_ he was sure had not changed.

He, too, left, though he was quickly followed. Nightwing cleared his throat and asked, "Cyborg? Can I pick your brains for a minute?"

"Sure."

The masked hero hesitated before finally speaking. "If Raven and Jinx are both back in town, what do you think the chances are that Gizmo and Mammoth are as well?"

_Figures he would realize the same thing I did._ "It's been five years; I don't know how close those four are now," he replied honestly yet deceitfully. While Raven had told him that they were all there, this was not something he was going to reveal until he had a better idea of exactly which gears were spinning in Nightwing's head.

"Still, you agree that they might be? I was trying to come up with Red X's new identity; there aren't many people in the know about it who are just _big_ enough and _strong_ enough for it to be them. Mammoth, possibly Adonis with enough enhancers built in… you." Nightwing shrugged helplessly. "It also explains why you couldn't find where anyone had picked a hole in our security. If Raven was the one who took it, she could just walk right in and access my files. She spent enough time in my head to do that in her sleep."

"Like I told Star, you better have proof to back up that accusation."

"I know you two were close," the masked vigilante grimaced, "probably closer than she and I ever were even with our mental connection, but you need to face the facts. Like it or not, her power along with her coming here while possessing Starfire means that she _is_ a threat, and even if she doesn't do anything, we need to be prepared for if she _does_. That said, you did have a good point in there. If we keep going off half-cocked whenever her name gets brought up, we're going to cause more problems than we solve."

Cyborg sighed. _Why can't we all just get along?_ "She's not here to cause any trouble, man."

"I'd love to believe that, I really would. But until we know for sure, we have to be prepared for the worst. Do you have any evidence, any at all, that you're right?"

The former Bat disciple nodded at the metallic man's silence before nodding and walking down the hall to his room. Alone in the corridor, Cyborg covered his face with one hand. _It's a good thing we just catch the bad guys, not try them; half the time we're runnin' under the assumption of guilty until proven innocent. Even if we and Raven's crew want the same thing when it comes to the H.I.V.E. — and I think we do — we're not willin' to work together. I'd love to help both groups, but every time I try, I wind up helpin' neither. And the way things are goin', Seph will be more likely to run off and join 'em then stick with us, not that I blame her one bit. I can't say that thought hasn't crossed my mind, either._

_Dammit all, this is gonna get __**real**__ ugly before it's all said and done._

* * *

**For those who don't know, Ravager's real name is Rose Wilson (yes, **_**that**_** Wilson); she and Slade have an… unhealthy father/daughter relationship. She's a comics-exclusive character who was a villainess trying to follow in daddy's footsteps, but since **_**my**_** canon is the early 2000s cartoon, I have artistic license in regards to her backstory.**

**On a somewhat-related note, has anyone else had the misfortune of seeing the little TT "reboot"? I caught five minutes of it and immediately turned it off. That was just **_**bad**_**.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	8. Manhunt

**AcshTheBloody:** In this story, Rose's mother was bad-mouthing Slade for as long as she can remember, so she never had any desire to be like him; therefore, no, she still has both eyes.

**Deathnoteuser:** As far as my universe is concerned, Trigon's other half-human children don't even exist.

**Much as I hate to do this, I need to start off with some bad news. I've cut out a good chunk of the scenes I originally planned, mostly because they did nothing but delay the final battle between Slade and Team Black Magic, so this story will almost certainly be shorter than **_**Coincidence**_**, maybe a dozen chapters when it's all said and done.**

**To be totally honest, I'm starting to wish I had written **_**Coincidence**_** so it could stand on its own rather than need a sequel to tie up all the loose ends.**

**Disclaimer:** Did most of the crimes shown in canon consist of relatively minor theft? If so, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 8  
****Manhunt**

"Well, well. I can honestly say that I did not expect _this_," the white-haired man muttered to himself as he shut down the monitor that had been tuned to the local news. "So, my dear Raven, what are you doing back in Jump City? Why now after so many years away? And why are you focused on the H.I.V.E.?"

"Sir? Did you say something?"

Slade coughed harshly into his hand for several moments; when the fit had ended, he turned to the person behind him. "Gather the Ternion Trio. I cannot afford to fight an enemy like Raven blind, and my information is severely out-of-date. I suppose it is only proper that I test her companions, too." He pulled up the recent photos of Raven and Jinx, as well as the old images of the metahuman's teammates.

"Surely they are not that much of a threat—"

"Is that loyalty to your former friends I hear, _Kyd_ Wykkyd?" The teleporter flinched. "The same people who abandoned you five years ago? Left you to fend for yourself while they bribed the courts to purge their records and then sought their fortunes elsewhere? Or is your allegiance to me, the one who saved you from that godforsaken hole I found you in, where you were kept in cryostasis and your sole destiny was to rot in your tiny tube?"

The professor fell to his knees and bent his head. "You! Always to you, Headmaster. Angel and I would follow you to the gates of Hell should that be your goal."

"Then do not _question_ my _decisions!_ I want Cinderblock, Plasmus, and Overload ready for combat by the week's end." Wykkyd rose and departed, allowing Slade some privacy. He reached into his desk and pulled out a pneumatic syringe before injecting the contents into his leg. The healing given to him by the super-soldier serum, despite how crucial it had been to his early designs, was a serious liability now that he was older; the cancer riddling his body grew resistant to every medical, nanotechnological, and magical treatment he tried within a few months. Even the arsenic solution he was on now, concentrated enough to kill off lesser men in a matter of days, would not cure him.

Unless he could find further delaying tactics, everyone who wished him dead would have cause to celebrate within the next four to six months.

_Adeline always did say I was my own worst enemy._ Shaking off the slight melancholy induced by reminiscing about his ex-wife, he turned to the table that held a number of tools and raw materials. None of the villainous trio had been strong enough to fight the half-demon when she was still a Titan, and he was sure that gap had only widened since. _It is good that I do not expect them to win, then, just hold her team off long enough that I can gather intel. Still_, he thought with a glance to a gem and a stack of blueprints he had been half-heartedly fiddling with over the years, _her return does present me with a course of action I long thought closed to me. There __**are**__, after all, entities to whom age and disease are not major concerns._

He poured his will and the moderate amount of magic he possessed into a wide metal hoop, runes carved into the shiny surface binding the spell as fast as he could weave it. Enchanters, those witches and wizards capable of crafting foci for the realization of their fellow magic-wielders' talents, were a rare breed, but not even they could build tools usable by three patsies with not a drop of mystical power between them.

Slade, however, held an even more precious gift. As an artificer, he might not be able to build a focus, but his creations held their own pool of magical energy with which to work. The historical treasures he had stolen from Jump City's museum over the course of several years had eventually spilled all their secrets to his vaunted intellect, allowing him to reverse engineer the processes used in their production and learn far more of the discipline than he had been able to pick up with the texts he had been able to find on rare occasions. Though Raven's departure had removed much of his drive to continue designing preternatural solutions to his problems, he still remembered how to work his abilities. Powerful and dangerous as she was, even Trigon's daughter and killer could be lured into a trap.

_Oh, if only I could travel ten years into the past. Why, __**why**__ did I waste my time with Robin and Terra when such a precious treasure lay right in front of my eyes? Raven truly would have been the __**perfect**__ apprentice._

_It is a shame that she will have to be the instrument of my ascension, instead._

* * *

A red-clad figure looked up from the trench he had been digging between the bricks. "Okay, Billy, it's ready to go!"

"Yee-haw! You heard him, Billy. Pull!"

The man ran forwards to a group of identical individuals and grabbed one of several chains leading from the ATM. With all twenty of them yanking hard, it eventually came loose from the wall it had been mounted in.

"That's the way to do it, Billy. How big's the take?"

A different clone took a look at the bins inside. "Plenty big! We'll be eating good tonight!"

"Tonight, maybe, but not just yet." The multiple Billies glanced up at the familiar voice. Sure enough, there stood the pink-haired ex-thief he hadn't seen in years, looking much more comfortable in her street clothes than the spandex uniform he was wearing. "You mind if we have a little chat, one-on-one?"

The clones shook their heads all at the same time. "Ain't got nothing to say to the likes of you, Jinx."

The woman sighed before pointing a finger at one of the duplicates. "I'm sorry if you misunderstood me, _Paul_, but you don't really have a choice in the matter. I was just being polite for old time's sake." An innocent-looking pink spark leapt from her hand onto the clone's head, who immediately started spasming. The 'dead' Billy vanished in a red blur, and the other multiples, also hit with the pain from an aneurism bursting, disappeared as well. Billy the original collapsed onto the ground and shuddered until a metallic clicking recalled his attention.

Sure enough, Jinx had just handcuffed him to the heavy bank machine.

"You know, your power has some pretty odd quirks. You can't multiply too many times, killing one of your clones kills all of them, and to duplicate yourself at all, you have to be able to freely move to the place you want your double to pop in at." She laughed. "How many times did Gizzy or I have to bust you free because you can't get out whenever you're thrown into a normal jail cell?"

Billy glared back at her as he tugged on the steel rings. Getting caught like this was just embarrassing! "So you're back to the hero gig, huh? Figures. You sell out Gizmo and Mammoth, too?"

"Nope, no hero work for this kitty. The boys had their own things to do today, so it's just you and me." She plopped down on the cash machine. "So… I've got questions, you've got answers. I _really_ don't want to have to do this the _'hard way'_ with you, so let's make our talk nice and quick, okay?"

"I ain't telling you squat."

She smiled as if she hadn't heard him. "Easy one first. Why the hell are you still knocking off ATMs? I'd have thought you'd either leave crime altogether, be stuck in the slammer, or at least have moved up in the underworld. For crying out loud, you're running the same jobs we pulled as teenagers!"

He maintained his silence for a few moments before he finally broke. "Gotta make rent somehow," he answered grudgingly. Jinx was a decent leader, but a lot of her frustration with the rest of the H.I.V.E. Five way back when had been because she had a real talent for crime. He didn't; petty theft or an occasional bank heist with other people was pretty much at his limit.

"By ripping out a big block of steel in broad daylight?" He blushed and nodded with a sheepish expression. "Okay, sure. If that's the way you want it, have fun. Where's Kyd Wykkyd?"

"Kyd? No idea."

"You gotta do better than that."

Billy tried to cross his arms, but the handcuffs kept his left arm from moving. "Read my lips, Jinx: I. Don't. Know. Last I heard, and this was a _long_ while back, he and Angel were headed off to something new."

"Weird. According to what _I_ was told, he's been here the whole time," the pinkette said.

He thought about that and frowned; he couldn't really say something like that would never happen. Kyd had been a fairly steady pal, but when Angel was around, she was all he cared about. _Yeah, I can totally see him lying to us about what he was going to do. She says jump, he asks how high._

"What about See-More?"

Any lingering defiance burned away like fog under the sun. "Dead."

Jinx's eyes softened. "Damn, Billy, I'm sorry. I know you had a major crush on him back when we were all together." She leaned over and gently patted his arm. "What happened?"

"Maybe a year after you guys left, his visor started hurting him real bad; shooting narc was just about the only thing that could bring down the pain. A couple of months later, he bought a bad batch of heroin off a street dealer. Cut with the wrong stuff or something," he said quietly.

The woman's voice was gentle as she prompted, "What about Cheshire, Billy-boy? I know she gave you a shoulder to cry on more than a few times. Was she still around when all that went down?"

"Yeah, but she left a little after that. I think she's bodyguarding some bigwig in Metropolis nowadays."

"Maybe you should pay her a visit for a few weeks," Jinx suggested. "This place is going to get pretty dangerous, like real soon. I'd rather not have you caught in the crossfire."

"What, you're going to sweep through the streets doing the Titans' job for 'em?" he asked with a small laugh, though that died off when her face didn't change. "You're not, are you? I thought you said you weren't part of the goody-goody club anymore."

"I'm not, not really, but we — Mammoth, Gizmo, Raven, and me — were hired to do a little job here, and something like that's going to happen while we're doing it. The only difference is, getting in our way won't see you serve prison time. It'll just earn you a bullet in the head." Billy paled behind his mask. "You're good people, Paul, and I don't want you getting hurt. Go to Metropolis, or Gotham, or Orlando; hell, go back to your family's farm. _Anywhere_ as long as it's far away from here."

"It _has_ been a while since I seen Ma and Pa," he admitted. A snicker broke through as he realized something. "Yeah, you're definitely not a hero. Killing aside, one of them wouldn't have said all that without telling me at least a couple of times to stop stealing stuff and use my powers for good or some shit like that."

Jinx grinned back and flicked a bolt of pink lightning at the cuffs, shattering the ring wrapped around his wrist. "I try. Now get."

He had barely regained his footing when a blue-and-white car and a black motorcycle flew around a corner and stopped with synchronized screeches. Nightwing shouted, "It's over, Billy Numerous! And Jinx, why am I not surprised? You're both under arrest."

"Yeah… I don't think so," Jinx said uncaringly. She pulled out a phone and speed-dialed. "Billy, keep in mind what I said, okay? Hey, Raven, an extraction right about now would be _much_ appreciated." She waggled her fingers in the Titans' direction as a wave of darkness whirled around her and dragged her into the ground.

Billy blinked at the spot she had been standing for a moment; he _thought_ she had said Raven, but he hadn't connected that name to the rogue crime-fighter until just then. He turned to the vigilantes. "I suppose y'all can't just forget about this whole thing here and let me go this time, can you?" Their glares were all the answer he needed.

* * *

Raven frowned as she sent yet another book back to the stacks. This library was full of information on various esoteric topics, tracking charms among them, but so far she had not found a solution to the problem plaguing her team. No matter what defenses they were designed to avoid, all of these spells required either some piece of the target to establish a thaumaturgic link or for the transmitting portion to be laid on the person.

_Meanwhile, we have not seen Kyd Wykkyd or Slade to fulfill either of those conditions. So, if direct search spells are out of the question… perhaps some form of remote viewing would work? Jinx tried earlier with no success, but she was taught only the most basic of scrying spells._ With a nod, she crooked her finger and called the directory scroll to her.

"_yatS ereht._"

She did not hear the whisper, but she certainly noticed when her summoning failed. Turning to see why, she sighed in irritation. "Zatanna Zatara. To what do I owe the…" She paused for a moment before continuing, "…the _annoyance_ of your company?"

"Someone has to keep an eye on you."

"If I am to be watched, I would expect it to be by someone whose prejudices have not _blinded_ her." She gestured again, but the scroll hung resolutely in the air. "Holding my books over my head and making me jump for them? How juvenile."

The stage magician shrugged nonchalantly, but she could not stop the buttery amusement or the faint saltiness of old anger that her aura carried. "How is it my fault that you never learned any motion spells? You're a big girl, Raven; it's long past time you took responsibility for your failings."

Amethyst eyes narrowed at that jab. Her telekinesis was a psionic ability, and therefore one that worked within the boundaries of physical laws. Magic, however, followed _metaphysical_ laws that could temporarily override normal reality. No matter how much she struggled, she was simply not capable of moving the directory from the rule Zatanna had imposed. Thankfully, there were other methods available to her.

Darkness coated the scroll, and it immediately soared into her hand. She smirked at the older woman's glare. Her soulself was nothing more or less than the manifestation of Nevermore in this plane, and she had unassailable authority over all matter and energy inside it. Zatanna's magic, powerful as it was, would not work unless she _allowed_ it to work.

"While I practice no religion found on this planet, I have a passing familiarity with several of them. I believe one has an expression somewhere along the lines of, _'practice what you preach'_? How many of my _'failings'_ would have still come to pass had you not pressured the Justice League into ignoring the plight of a young girl who literally fell to her knees and _begged_ for your help in overcoming her prophesied fate?" Her cheshire grin widened. "How narrowly you avoided having the blood of all humanity staining your hands! I do not think it would have _ever_ come off."

"How dare you!" Zatanna raised a glowing hand; Raven readied her soulself. Immediately, they were both thrown onto the marble floor. The magician struggled fruitlessly to rise for a long moment, but the half-demon simply lay still. The Arbitrator on duty would be able to tell not only who attacked first, but also whether they fought the wards incapacitating them.

The Eldritch Enclave had a deceptively simple purpose: to acquire and spread the knowledge of magic to all who could legitimately claim the title 'sorcerer'. What made that difficult was two-fold. First, practitioners of sorcery were generally prideful and self-centered individuals, understandable traits considering the power they were capable of bringing to bear. Second was that sorceresses, being so much more in tune with magic than witches, were naturally more polarized with respect to their affiliations with Order and Chaos, two primal forces of the universe that had been, were, and would always be in conflict with one another.

Because of the constant fighting that broke out during the early years of the Enclave's existence, its founder, the half-incubus sorcerer known only by the pseudonym_ 'Merlin'_, had erected a set of defenses that would detect and retaliate against any violent intent. Those who flouted the organization's rules would be disciplined in some way, be that a verbal rebuke, public censure in front of their contemporaries, or even dismissal from the Enclave entirely. As Merlin grew older, he created the office of the Arbitrator, where senior members who had demonstrated impartiality in their interactions with the opposite sect would continue to uphold the peace. There were eight places, divided evenly between Order and Chaos, and they were traditionally filled by mages from all over the globe so that there was always at least one on duty at all hours of the day.

The clicking of golden boots drew Raven's ear and eye. _And of course it would be __**him**__ here at the moment._

"Why am I not surprised?" The voice was deep and strong with a strange, higher-pitched echo behind it. "The two of you truly cannot be in the same building without causing strife, can you?"

"But she—"

"_Silence. _Unless she directly threatened you, Mistress Zatanna, I have no desire to hear your excuses. Mistress Raven, are you injured?" Doctor Fate asked as he made a sign with one hand, manipulating the ward that held her down.

The youngest master of illusions in Enclave history stood, now unhindered by the pressure that had been crushing her, and inclined her head respectfully. "I am not, Arbitrator. Thank you for your concern."

"Gratitude is unnecessary; I am merely fulfilling my obligations. However, I believe it would be in your best interests if you gathered the documents you seek and moved to one of the private rooms upstairs for their perusal."

With a nod and a wave of her hand, she recalled the fallen scroll to her. A quick glance revealed the location of the desired texts. "The books I need are in the north wing. I will leave you two to your discussion." He nodded in obvious dismissal.

Raven knew the other sorceress would probably receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Not only were Zatanna and Doctor Fate teammates, they were both Order-aligned; the Doctor, or more precisely the spirit Nabu who inhabited his helmet, was nothing less than an outright _Lord_ of Order. Half-demons like herself, on the other hand, were inherently affiliated with Chaos.

Some would say that regardless of the Arbitrators' requisite objectivity, she was lucky to have escaped blame for the situation.

Still, she was curious about the scolding Zatanna was in for. The Justice Leaguer had had it out for her ever since her arrival in this dimension, and their antagonism had only worsened since her induction into the Enclave three years ago. Her Mistress status being conferred a single year later had not helped matters any.

Laying the scroll back onto the table, she drew the darkness around herself and phased through the high ceiling. Now out of sight of the two Leaguers, she flew around a corner and back to the lower level. She poked her head out a wall to peer through the stacks.

Doctor Fate, his faced turned away from the eavesdropper, pulled off his iconic helmet to reveal ordinary brown hair rather than the blond locks she half-expected. That action also reduced his voice to a mellow baritone as he asked, "Honestly, just _what_ were you thinking?"

The woman flushed in embarrassment and anger. "She was—"

"Looking up spells. Yes, most of the people who come here intend to do just that." He pulled out two chairs; he sat in one, and a golden ankh wrapped its arms around Zatanna and forced her into the other. "I'm not sure you understand what kind of position you're putting me into."

"Putting _you_ into?"

"Yes. Forgive me for being selfish for a moment, but you don't seem to realize how much politicking comes with my rank. Arbitrators have to be totally unbiased, and you, my teammate, constantly _picking fights_ reflects extremely poorly on me. I've been defending you to my peers as much as I can, but my waning reputation makes it a losing battle." She opened her mouth to retort, but he cut her off. "The Dead Monk is pushing for your expulsion."

Zatanna sat up straighter. "That blasted necromancer?! Who does he think he is?"

"He thinks — correctly, I might add — that he is an Arbitrator, and therefore someone who has the authority to propose such a thing. Unfortunately, that motion has some support. Expulsion requires positive votes from seven of us." Doctor Fate raised one hand with all his fingers extended. "_Five_. That's how many he would likely get should he press for a vote _today_, even with me speaking in your defense. Do you realize now how tenuous your continued membership is?"

"What am I supposed to do, then? Just let people we _know_ will threaten the world with the magic they research in here go merrily on their way?!" she demanded.

"Yes."

"So why—" Zatanna's mouth moved silently for a second as his words penetrated her skull. "What?"

He sighed. "Mordru is also a member of the Enclave, even if he visits only occasionally. What do you think I do on those rare instances when we run into each other?" Zatanna shrugged weakly. "I leave. Him. _Alone_. Oh, I track where he goes, what documents he reads, but so long as he stands here on Avalon's shores, he is safe from me, just as I am safe from him. If I can ignore the man who Nabu has been fighting for _millennia_, you can and _will_ do the same for Raven, as well as any of our enemies you see here.

"Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if the Dead Monk doesn't have the right of it."

The heroine's eyes widened. "You aren't serious?"

"I am," Doctor Fate affirmed. "If it were not for the consequences of you being a warlock, I would have an extremely difficult decision in front of me." He seemed to notice her distress because he continued more kindly, "I know you are a good person, and your love of justice is commendable. But the Eldritch Enclave is a _neutral_ and _nonviolent_ organization. No matter your magical abilities, I am not sure it is right for you."

Standing and picking up the Helmet of Nabu, he concluded, "Each time you cause trouble, we both lose more and more ground. Just remember that, should worst come to worst, resignation is an infinitely better option than expulsion." He turned around and looked directly at Raven for a moment. A swift nod confirmed that he was indeed aware of her presence, then he reclaimed the mantle of his power and swept out of the room.

_It is times like these when I am reminded of just how far I have to go_, she thought as she, too, departed, though her destination lay in another section of the library. Scanning titles, she reviewed the conversation and shivered. _Much as I dislike her, I would not wish warlock status on even Zatanna._

Oath-breaker. Traitor. Dead man walking. To be branded a warlock was to be cast out from the greater world of mages, unprotected from the rich and unscrupulous who desired her powers or hunted down by those she might turn down or who sought revenge for old grudges. Sorceresses who were labeled thus might have more power with which to defend themselves, but the phrase _'strength in numbers'_ was true nonetheless. To vanilla humans in the know, especially dictators and organized crime syndicates, a banished magic-wielder was a tempting prize; she would have no one to shield her from blackmail or other _aggressive_ negotiation tactics.

Seeking aid from one's former fellows was pointless; there were many witches' organizations, and even a few minor groups for sorceresses, but they all agreed that anyone caught helping a warlock deserved to join them in exile.

There were few ways to earn such a punishment. The most common was murdering one's master — if in a traditional apprenticeship, which was more common than an outsider might expect — or stealing grimoires. Repeated conflict amongst one's fellow sorceresses was a nothing in comparison, which was why it took nearly a unanimous vote to push expulsion through. Such a final decision was generally unnecessary, anyway; faced with just the threat of that label, most members would change their behaviors and become the epitome of tolerance, too afraid of being blacklisted should they not.

Though not necessarily the intended outcome, warlocks' average life-expectancies decreased dramatically: six months for a witch, eighteen for a sorceress. The tights-wearing heroine would _probably_ be safe from that, but such a stain on her reputation could cause serious issues with the Justice League's agreements across the globe.

_I had not realized that Zatanna was antagonizing other Chaos-aligned sorcerers, but I suppose I should have. It fits her character. Still, though, to turn five of the eight Arbiters against her? That means that in addition to all the Chaos Arbitrators, there is also an Order-affiliated member who wants to see the back of her; __**not**__ a good sign. Just how much trouble has she been causing of which I am unaware?_

She shook her head as she returned her attention to the books before her. _It does not matter right now. Her problems, and mine with her, have to take a back seat to bringing down Slade. I just need to come up with a way to find him._ Resolve restored, she once again poured over cramped writing in weathered pages.

* * *

**Heavy metal therapy is not a recognized treatment for stage 4 cancer. **_**Please**_** do not try this at home.**

**Of all the characters whose perspectives I've written, Billy Numerous's is definitely the hardest to do and stay in character.**

**Portions of this story were brought to you by the omniscient Wikipedia. That said, my knowledge of Zatanna's and Doctor Fate's personalities is practically nonexistent, so I'm probably **_**way**_** off base.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	9. Little Black Dress, Muddy Sneakers

**I must say that I was surprised at how many people wanted me to keep the scenes I threw out. I feel kind of bad for letting you all down, so I've come up with a compromise. While some of the scenes would conflict with earlier chapters, and others are quite obviously filler, there **_**are**_** a few that wouldn't be that hard to adapt to my shorter plan for the story. In fact, you get to see one of them now.**

**Celestia GF of the Void:** That's actually not a bad idea; the Vegas challenge does have a lot of potential, but you're right in that it's never really done well. I'll certainly consider it, but since I'm trying to cut my writing down to two fics at a time (three is just exhausting!), it'll probably have to wait until _Faery Heroes_ is nearly done.

**Ex10:** The Eldritch Enclave is entirely of my own creation.

**Thanks to kishinokurobi, I have a poll on my profile I would **_**very**_** much appreciate all of you voting in. Satisfy my curiosity!**

**Disclaimer:** Did Beast Boy need to get a minimum-wage job to pay for a moped when the Titans, considering their rather extravagant lifestyle, clearly received compensation for the daily dangers they encountered? If so, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 9  
****Little Black Dress, Muddy Sneakers**

_Dear Cyborg and Lisa,_

_It was recently brought to my attention that I may have… distressed you somewhat with the threats I levied against your team a few days ago. We really should take some time to "clear the air", so to speak, before any misunderstandings take root and cause unnecessary difficulties. Therefore, Jinx and I would love for both of you to join us for dinner tonight at the Three Queens restaurant — our treat, of course. I promise there will be no combat, no ultimata, just four people eating together and politely discussing a few things._

_It should not need to be said, but this invitation is strictly for the two of you. Our — mutual acquaintances, shall we say? — are __**obviously**__ not welcome._

_I hope to see you at half past seven. The reservation is under the name "Roth"._

_Raven_

* * *

"You're _sure_ Raven's email said the Three Queens?" Lisa asked for the tenth or twelfth time since they got in the vehicle. She did not expect the answer to have changed any, but a girl could hope.

Cyborg sighed as he pulled the T-Car in front of the restaurant. "For the last time, _yes_. Can you stop with the panicking now? We're late as it is." He exited with electronic grace and moved over to open her door. Swallowing her anxiety down, she accepted his help in getting out; the tight black dress sheathed about her was something she had worn only twice since buying it, and that made moving as she was used to a tad difficult. _Cy's got it easy. One holo-ring and he's dressed in a picture-perfect tux that won't get in his way if we have to fight; __**I**__, on the other hand, have to take tiny steps to keep from falling flat on my face. __**That's**__ definitely a defensible position._

The mechanical vigilante passed his keys to a waiting valet. "If there's even one ding in her when we come back out, I'm goin' to break you in half, understand?" A loud gulp preceded the young man's spastic nodding, and the pair walked arm-in-arm into what was without a doubt Jump City's fanciest restaurant.

The maitre d' gave them a quick once-over as they approached; had she not been a full-time hero, she probably would have missed it completely. "Your reservation, sir?"

"We're with the Roth party."

"Ah," the elderly man replied, glancing at a list on his podium. "Yes, Ms. Roth did mention that she was expecting two additional companions this evening. Right this way, please."

Following him through the spacious room, Lisa could not help but compare her outfit to those worn by the women of high society they passed. _Dammit, Raven, couldn't you have sent us that invitation a couple of days ago? I got this dress for undercover work, not black tie affairs!_ She cut off her mental complaints as they approached a table situated in the far corner of the room; strangely, the light seemed kind of… not _dimmer_, exactly, but almost like it had somehow _twisted_ on its way from the lamp to her eyes. Goosebumps appeared as an electric tingle brushed against her bare skin.

_Creepy…_

"There you are; we were beginning to wonder if you would ever show. And unless I'm very much mistaken, this must be the friendlier reincarnation of Terra I spoke to so briefly a week or so ago," commented the pale-skinned woman on the left, her wide grin reminding Lisa of a cat just before it pounced on some unsuspecting mouse. As if her short pink hair and eyes didn't give her identity away, she added, "It's nice to finally meet you in person, Persephone. I'm Jinx."

Trying to think of something appropriate to reply with since Jinx had gone and stolen her half of the introduction, she opened her mouth and said, "Didn't the old guy have a problem letting you in with your hair and Raven's tats?" Her cheeks immediately started burning, and she seriously considered opening a chasm in the ground and letting it swallow her up.

Thankfully, neither former heroine took offense to her _faux pas_. "He likely would have had we given him the chance," Raven answered with a soft smile, "so we did not. Two people teleporting into his restaurant shook him up a little, and a small application of magic reassured him that we would not stand out overmuch."

"Magic? Really?" Lisa asked, fighting hard to keep any skepticism out of her voice. The other Titans had told her that Raven was a self-described sorceress before, but they had only seen it in action once or twice, and she personally was never sure just how seriously to take their claims. The idea of people running around with non-metahuman and non-gadget powers, powers that genetics and science could not even begin to explain, just sat wrong with her. She _could_ have asked Raven herself during their five years of email conversations, she supposed, but it never crossed her mind while typing her messages; even if it _had_, she probably would have kept her curiosity to herself anyway.

Magic or no magic, the half-demon was one of the _last_ people she wanted to offend for more than a few reasons.

"Indeed. Allow me to demonstrate. _Cohito vi annolug pauv_." A ripple washed over Raven's skin. Where before there had been a half-demon whose sense of style would only be considered normal at a goth rock concert, Lisa now saw a young woman of vaguely Mediterranean descent. The grey skin, the tattoos, the long black nails, the gem on her forehead; all of these were gone. She looked… normal.

…_Okay, maybe those claims of magic weren't __**that**__ unbelievable, after all._

The metal man whistled lightly. "Different enough that no one would recognize you with just a brief glance, but for anyone who knows you, it's obvious that you're you. Not bad."

"Thank you, but I must confess that I took the general idea from your infiltration mission into the H.I.V.E. The hologram you created was how you looked before your accident, without your, for lack of a better word, _powers_; I simply did the same thing. Considering Arella's general coloration, this is how I expect I would have appeared were it not for my infernal heritage."

"Yeah, _she_ looks good enough to eat. _Me_ she turned into a soulless ginger." Jinx waved at the two empty chairs at the table. "Well, sit down. We're not gonna force you to stand up the whole time."

Raven let her illusion fade. "Indeed, my apologies for not offering immediately."

Cyborg, again being a perfect gentleman, pulled Lisa's chair out for her and got her situated. While he was taking his own seat, she pointed to the ornate black-and-gold cube that looked very much out of place on the white tablecloth. "So what's that?"

"Rather than leave the glamours up for the entirety of our time together, I procured this handy device. It will maintain the spell to deceive anyone who stays outside its range, perhaps five feet or so? Far enough that only the waitstaff will know the difference."

"How would you even go about gettin' somethin' like that?" Cyborg wondered aloud. "I'll admit I've never _looked_ for one, but I don't think you'd find that in your local supermarket."

Raven smirked slightly, and her voice took on a mild New Yorker accent. "I know a guy who knows a guy, you know?" She chuckled lightly, and her voice resumed its normal near-monotone. "An associate of mine loaned it to me for the evening. Now, I suppose we may as well begin our conversation with an explanation for my threats against your persons."

"I've got a pretty good idea, already." The cybernetic crime-fighter leaned forwards slightly so as to look their former teammate square in the eye. "You were tryin' to scare us off, make us so worried about what you'd do to us that we stayed out of your way while you completed whatever objectives you're here for."

"_There's_ the Stone I knew. Always seemed to pull the right answer out his ass at the very last second," Jinx commented with a snicker. The geokinetic laughed, too — though the sound was closer to a relieved sigh — as the last lingering doubts about her former teammate's intentions faded away, much to her delight. Facing off against Raven on the battlefield was _not_ her idea of a fun time.

"Thanks, I think. What's really been botherin' me, though, is just what you're doin' and why you've been tryin' to stay under the radar this whole time. If you just _told us_, we could probably work it out so your crew and the Titans aren't constantly buttin' heads."

The pinkette's mirth suffered a swift death, and she turned to her lover. The pair held an entire conversation with a single shared glance before Raven sighed heavily. "As I told you before, that information is classified. I may have ignored the _spirit_ of our orders by warning you that we were in town in the first place, but I dare not violate the letter. I take it you still will not stand aside?"

Lisa glumly looked down at the pristine tablecloth. "If it was up to me, I'd let you run around doing whatever. I trust you, and so does Cy. Unfortunately, I don't know if a complete itinerary and a copy of those orders would calm Nightwing or Beast Boy down. Starfire definitely not; she's got this idea in her head that you're here to summon demons and destroy the planet or some nonsense like that."

That news seemed surprising to the purple-haired woman, and not in a good way, either. She pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand. "And just how did she come to _that_ conclusion?"

"Partly it's because of an old legend about how one of Trigon's children tried to take over Tamaran and—"

Raven's raised hand cut her off, eyes scrunched closed as she seemingly tried hard to remember something. "This demon, was his name Vithon?"

"Yeah," Cyborg answered. "How'd you know?"

"Vithon may not be the most dangerous of my many siblings, but I _do_ keep track of all of them, or at least the most heinous of their transgressions. I did not know the world he almost conquered was Starfire's, though it certainly explains a few things. What was the other reason she is so certain I have evil plots brewing?"

The mechanical man waved the blonde to hold off, but she continued undaunted, "According to a vision we were told about, a Demon Lord is going to rise in Jump, but the city will be better afterwards. You were in there as well, but no one knows what you were doing or which side you were on. Obviously, Star believes you are going to be the one to summon him."

"Precognition is a tricky discipline, and visions even more so. There are only a few people I would trust to accurately interpret such a thing."

"According to Batman, it was Doctor Fate who saw this," Cyborg said with a mild glare at the earth-shifter, one she deftly ignored. His plan involved not telling Raven about any of this and instead trying to handle it without her so she could stay far away from the other Titans; Lisa, on the other hand, felt that if there was going to be an extremely powerful demon appearing in their city, they needed to clue in the only person they knew to have ever killed one as soon as possible.

Raven stared at her male friend for a moment before slumping dejectedly in her chair. "And he is one of them. I find it strange that he could not determine my role in this, however; wearing the Helmet of Nabu, his portents should be extraordinarily detailed." She paused then, a slight frown appearing as she stared at nothing. "Unless…"

"Unless?"

"It is nothing," the former heroine said with a shake of her head. "Foresight is not my area of expertise."

The pinkette turned to her. "Tell us anyway. Pretty please?"

"…I thought you were supposed to be on _my_ side." The three eager faces wore away Raven's resolve, though Lisa suspected it was her fiancee's fluttering eyelashes more than anything. "There is a possibility — _only_ a possibility, mind you — that the good Doctor did not reveal his entire vision, though for what reason he would do that I cannot determine from these meager facts. Nevertheless, I doubt it is anything to worry about; while he may keep his own counsel, he _does_ have Earth's best interests at heart."

Lisa's eyebrows rose as she noted Raven's respectful tone. "You sound like you know him well."

"Not _well_, precisely. We are both in… I suppose you could call it a professional organization for sorcerers. I have dealt with him on a few occasions, and he has always treated me with courtesy and fairness."

"So you'll help us when this demon comes knocking?"

"Of course," Raven answered Cyborg, her tone expressing confusion at even needing to be asked. "It will not be the first of my father's race I have tangled with since I left the team, nor the second or third. I may not require your assistance to deal with him at all; were it not for my human blood, my personal power would put me in a good position for claiming the title of Demon Lord myself, and that is without taking into account what I gained with Trigon's demise."

Jinx's hand on Raven's arm drew her attention back to the world outside their table, and Lisa noticed a waiter moving towards them to — finally — pass out menus. Only magic could have caused this kind of delay in such a posh place as this one. "I suppose we will have to resume this conversation later; my betrothed has a rather firm policy concerning not partaking in _'shop talk'_ during meals. Please, order whatever you like."

She glanced over the options briefly, and her eyes widened at the absurd prices. She knew they would be high, but not _this_ high. "How the hell can you afford to eat in this place? We'd have to put a mortgage out on the Tower if we wanted to come here." Though she was mostly joking, the other women were clearly better-paid if they could afford to throw away money dining at restaurants like this. _Maybe I should quit the Titans and work with __**them**__ if their salary's that good._

"Well…" The two maybe-spies shared another glance along with secretive smiles. "Let me just say that while our work does not necessarily pay quite _that_ well, our superiors make a habit of looking the other way when it comes to, shall we say, _side jobs_."

The former, or possibly not-so-former, thief shrugged. "What can I say? Stealing isn't an action; it's a frame of mind."

* * *

Nightwing huffed in irritation as he gently pushed Starfire away and straightened his outfit. Marching over to the console of the command center, he slammed his hand on the button to ignore whoever was calling. With Beast Boy patrolling the city and Cyborg and Persephone out on their date — much to the polymorph's disgust — the interspecies couple had been blessed with a rare period of alone time that he was loath to give up. If there was an actual emergency, the alarm would be going off; as it wasn't, he could only assume that at the other end of the line sat some reporter wanting yet another interview about his girlfriend's recent fiasco.

As soon as he removed his hand, the trill resumed.

Growling now, he jabbed the Accept key and glared at the keyboard to avoid scaring the hapless journalist. "We have already given all the interviews on Starfire's actions that we are going to, and we have no further comments."

"_It's a good thing I'm not a writing an article, then, isn't it?"_

Nightwing's eyes shot up to find Batman scowling at him from the console's small screen. This was the second time in a week his former mentor had called, and in his opinion, that was two times too many. Still, he could keep things professional for five minutes despite his decade-old antipathy towards the man. "Anything new on Doctor Fate's prophecy?"

"_No, nor is that why I called. Where is Starfire?"_

"We have already dealt with her behavior internally," the acrobat tried his best not to snarl. "There is no reason for the Justice League to involve themselves."

"_I'm glad to hear you are handling discipline yourself. Nevertheless, put her on."_

Starfire drifted over to him and peered sheepishly over shoulder. "Master Batman, I understand that my—"

"_Empress Koriand'r,"_ the Caped Crusader interrupted with a sterner-than-normal scowl, _"would you care to explain why there are __**three Tamaranean battlecruisers**__ waiting outside Sol's heliosphere, supposedly having come in response to __**your**__ orders?"_

His mouth hanging open, Nightwing turned to his teammate. _Please, __**please**__ tell me this is all just a misunderstanding._ This had the potential to turn into an interstellar incident of terrible proportions.

"Well, they are under my command, yes." The alien fiddled with her bracers nervously, carefully not looking at either male. "Or they will be once they arrive in Earth's orbit or I go out to meet them. I was concerned that we would not have sufficient numbers when we challenge the Demon Lord Doctor Fate predicted."

"_You mean when you challenge __**Raven**__. I heard all the details about that debacle from various media sources. And from the Department of Justice. And the State Department, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and the leaders of the Armed Forces. I do not think you truly understand the consequences of an alien warrior who is also her planet's head of state attacking unarmed civilians."_

"Raven has innate powers that are just as much weapons as my starbolts or Beast Boy's shapeshifting!"

"_Irrelevant,"_ Batman snapped back. _"She made no aggressive actions until you had already made your move; therefore she was, for the sake of this conversation, unarmed. Moreover, I distinctly remember telling you __**not to engage her at all**__. If that were not enough, I also noticed that this encounter was not reported to the Watchtower as would have been appropriate."_

Nightwing bristled at that. "We aren't subordinate to the Justice League, Bruce. We don't _have_ to tell you _anything_."

"_And perhaps it is time that arrangement was reevaluated, especially if situations like __**this**__ are going to be the new norm. Starfire, order the ships back to Tamaran."_

"Master Batman, _please_. My people can help!"

"_Allow me to speak more clearly, then. If even one of those ships or a member of their crew enters this system, it will be treated as an declaration of __**war**__ between our planets. Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, and Doctor Fate are already prepared to move out and destroy them if necessary. In addition, if they have not left within the next twenty-four hours, you will be forcibly deported to your homeworld and forever barred from returning."_

Starfire blanched, and the joy keeping her aloft disappeared in an instant. She fell heavily, and only Nightwing's arms catching her kept her from crumpling to the ground entirely.

"_I see you now understand."_ The cowled hero leaned closer to the camera on his end, his eyes narrowed ominously. _"No matter how much you meant to 'help', you __**do not**__ have the authority to command a __**foreign military force**__ to enter our space. It is time you made an important choice: are you a hero of Earth or the ruler of Tamaran? Clearly you are incapable of being both._

"_As I doubt you used the Tower's command center to contact your planet when you 'invited' these warriors here, clear the room. I need to speak with Nightwing privately."_

The Tamaranean staggered out, her shoulders slumped and her head hanging. Once the door hissed shut, Nightwing turned back to the screen. "She made a mistake, but you know damn well that she only had good intentions."

"_The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. That doesn't mean I want to walk down it,"_ Batman retorted sharply. He sighed then and said more gently, _"Dick, regardless of the issues between us, I need you to be honest with me right now. Are you capable of commanding Starfire effectively while simultaneously maintaining a romantic relationship with her?"_

"After dating _Catwoman_ on and off for years, you have the _gall_ to imply that I am emotionally compromised?!" Nightwing whispered in a harsh tone.

"_It is __**because**__ of that experience that I know what a bad idea mixing business and pleasure is in our line of work. I cannot describe how much I would prefer leaving the situation in your hands, but you have to acknowledge just how badly this situation could have turned out."_

"It was a one-time occurrence."

"_I hope so. Still, the League is __**officially**__ requesting a report after any altercation with Raven or those you have reason to believe she is affiliated with."_

Nightwing sighed and reluctantly nodded. As the _de facto_ leader of masked vigilantes the world over, the Justice League had every right to make that demand, especially in regards to their former member. Much as he wished he could deny it, they were too close to the problem at hand to analyze it objectively. "Very well. I'll have Cyborg write them; he's been advising caution and non-interference ever since she showed up. If any of us can be at all unbiased, it would be him."

"_Thank you. And Nightwing?"_ The younger hero looked squarely at his mentor. _"Be careful should you encounter Raven again. She is far too powerful for you to casually make an enemy of her; her strength makes even some of __**us**__ wary."_

* * *

"Come on, girl. You've _got_ to tell us how your night went!"

Lisa sighed as she peeled off the too-tight dress her dark-skinned friend had insisted she try on. "How did this rumor even start in the first place? Cy and I were meeting someone about work, that's all."

"Oh, _please_," Maeve said from the other side of the thin wall separating the changing rooms. "You expect us to believe you had a business meeting… just the two of you… during dinner… in the _Three Queens_? Pull the other leg; it's got bells on it."

"It's okay if you're going out with him now, you know. Who wouldn't want a piece of a hunk like that?"

"Seriously, Jaz, it was _not_ a date." She cracked the door open to toss the garment onto the rejected pile. Her meal with Raven and Jinx the previous night had convinced her that she _really_ needed a new cocktail dress, preferably one that fit properly. _And with my luck, I'll find one I like and never have a reason to wear it_.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say." The redhead stuck her hand out as well, and Jazmyn passed them each yet another selection before continuing, "But if things don't go well between you two, just point him my way, okay?"

The blonde rolled her eyes as she slithered into the dress; Jazmyn had gone boy-crazy the second she started her senior year of high school, and it had not gotten any better in the four years since. "You want him, go after him. No skin off my nose." She tested the dress, appreciating that this one didn't feel like she had let Beast Boy wrap her up in cellophane like the last one had. Removing it, she hung it next to the only other one that she had deemed a possibility.

Thirty minutes later, she exited the store with her best friends and a white bag hanging from one hand, just enjoying the mindless chatter washing over her. Spending time with the two girls had become a luxury recently, and the gulf that she could feel gradually forming between them was most distressing. Saving the city just kept eating up more and more of her time to the point that a lazy Saturday afternoon out on the town was now a special event.

_And to think that I'm the __**most**__ social of the Titans. At least I have friends outside the crime-fighting community._

Jazmyn hurried in front of them and turned around, walking backwards as she spoke. "I don't know if you two heard, but there's supposed to be this _awesome_ store opening here in about a week. Either of you want—"

The girl was cut off as a massive crash sounded up the street, followed by a cacophony of screams. Lisa shoved her purchase into the redhead's arms. "Both of you get out of here. I'll meet back up with you once I'm through dealing with this."

"We aren't helpless, you know. We can take care of ourselves."

She squeezed her eyes tight for a second; could Maeve have possibly chosen a _less_ opportune time to be her belligerent self? "I know you can, but I'm not asking for your sakes. _I_ will fight better knowing you're not going to get caught in the crossfire." Her fiery friend obviously saw through the half-truth if her scowl was any indication, but she eventually nodded and waved the blonde away. Ripping a huge chunk of asphalt and dirt from beneath her, the geokinetic sped towards the cloud of smoke.

Upon her arrival, she immediately had to dodge a large stream of smelly green liquid. The dust cleared, revealing the oozing form of Plasmus. She flipped off her ride and sent it through the villain's face, though, as she expected, it had little effect. Pooling back together, he swung one fist, his semi-liquid flesh allowing his arm to stretch long enough to reach her. A stone wall stopped that blow, but not the following one that bent around her barrier and sent her sprawling onto the ground.

Lisa, still laying flat on her back, pulled her communicator out of her pocket and flipped it open. "Guys, Plasmus just arrived and started wrecking the mall. I could _really_ use a hand out here."

"_That… might be a problem."_

* * *

**The names Maeve and Jazmyn come from Concolor44's story "Not Really All That Subtle". Just so you know, I didn't do that simply so I could return the shout-out. Nope, not at all.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	10. Allies of Circumstance

**SepticMind:** You want action? Here you go! As for Rae/Jinx-ness, there's a little here, but not much. The next couple of chapters… it depends on how you look at it, I suppose.

**Concolor44:** I'm always willing to give a nod to one of the masters. No, Starfire thought she was _totally_ justified, and with how stubborn she is… If you want epic, keep reading; you might also want to upgrades Slade's "bite" to a full zebra.

**Faraway-R:** The situation with Doctor Fate is actually kind of complicated, but I can say with certainty now that he _will_ explain the method behind his madness.

**Oh, this chapter was **_**so**_** much fun to write, probably my favorite of this story so far! It has everything I like: emotional whiplash, ruthless pragmatism, and several opened cans of whoop ass. If you enjoy it even half as much I did, I'll consider it a job well done.**

…**I also apologize in advance for the cheesy one-liners.**

**Disclaimer:** After Red X helped take down Professor Chang and free the other Titans, did Robin immediately try to recapture him? If so, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 10  
****Allies of Circumstance**

_Lisa pulled her communicator out of her pocket and flipped it open. "Guys, Plasmus just arrived and started wrecking the mall. I could really use a hand out here."_

"That… might be a problem."

* * *

"_What do you mean, that might be a problem?!"_

Nightwing winced and leaned back from the console to create a few more inches of space between him and Persephone's screech. He could not truly blame the blonde for her indignation; Plasmus was an irritating foe, and while one person _could_ take him out on their own, it required quite a bit of effort to sufficiently soften him up before then. There was a reason all five Titans normally worked together to fight him.

Unfortunately, today was _anything_ but normal.

"Plasmus isn't the only one causing trouble." He pulled up several screens on the window that doubled as the computer system's main monitor, checking for any updates. "Cinderblock's been sighted in the projects, and Overload found the abandoned power plant on the East Side."

Persephone was silent for several seconds before tentatively asking, _"…All three of them are active?"_

"Yeah. The only times they've ever acted like this were when they were taking orders, either from the Brotherhood of Evil or Slade." He grit his teeth. "I don't like how this is shaping up."

"_I can — Hey! No touching allowed! — I can understand why. I'll do my best to deal with this slimeball, but a little help wouldn't go amiss if someone finishes up early."_

"I'll spread the word, but not promises," he replied, shutting down the com channel. With one last glance of the city map, he turned around and nearly ran into the team's resident alien. Before she could even open her mouth, he said, "Not a chance."

"Love Nightwing, you _know_ you need my help. I can go to Friend Persephone and lend my assistance there if you still do not wish me to be in the heat of battle."

He huffed and grabbed her arms tightly. "Starfire, between whatever happened during your fight with Raven and her possessing you, you are in no state to help _anybody_. Until Cyborg clears you for battle, you're. Staying. Here."

"I am fine!" she cried, flinging his hands off her. "I can fly, I can use my starbolts, and my strength has finally returned! Why do you refuse to let me fight?!"

'_Are you capable of commanding Starfire effectively while simultaneously maintaining a romantic relationship with her?'_ His former teacher's words echoed mockingly in his mind, and he was sorely tempted to scream in frustration. Much as he hated to admit it, the Caped Crusader had a point; there was a time to be Dick Grayson, Starfire's boyfriend, and there was a time to be Nightwing, leader of the Titans. Now was one of the latter.

Unfortunately, he knew the Tamaranean would not listen. Determination despite all obstacles was seemingly bred into her people, and while that was generally an asset in combat situations, when she was injured it became nothing more than bull-headed stubbornness. She did not believe she was still hurt, and to her, that was the end of the conversation.

He needed to pull on his big boy tights and disabuse her of that notion.

Swallowing down his reluctance, he formed a fist out of her line of sight and launched it into her abdomen at what would normally be a leisurely pace for the alien. This time, however, her eyes bugged out as she folded over his arm. Catching her, he gently lowered her to a sitting position on the floor so she could catch the breath that he had forced out of her. "If you were _fine_, that wouldn't have even been a love tap. You can fly again, yes, but yesterday you couldn't stay aloft for five minutes without needing a break. You can't take a hit." He spotted the tears beginning to form in her emerald eyes and knelt on the floor with her, his arms wrapping around her shoulders. "Star… _Koriand'r_… you're not fine. Not yet."

"Useless," she whispered, leaning her head on his chest. "That is all I am now. I cannot lead my people. I cannot help my friends. What good am I, Love Nightwing?"

"Hey, don't say that." He wiped her cheeks dry and smiled softly. "You're not useless; you're _injured_. If I had had my heart damaged like yours was, would you let me leave the Tower to fight?"

"…No."

"No, you wouldn't. In fact, I seem to remember you not letting me even reach for the _remote_ when all I had was a broken arm."

She smiled weakly at that. "That was because you would not accept that you were in no condition to pursue the Johnny Rancid."

"And now _you're_ in no condition to fight, even if you won't accept it. We're quite a pair, aren't we?" She giggled and scooted backwards to lean against the couch. "Besides, it'll be tough for her, but Persephone's a big girl; she can handle Plasmus on her own. Cyborg and Beast Boy are chasing down Cinderblock, and I just need to give Overload a quick bath. We'll all be done and back here in time for dinner."

* * *

"I do not like this."

Jinx swung her eyes from Gizmo's wall of computer screens to glance at her stressed fiancée. "Down, girl. I know we're back in your old stomping grounds, but ten bucks says this is just a run-of-the-mill smash-and-grab. Nothing we need to worry ourselves over."

"If it were anyone but these three, I would agree with you, but it is not." The half-demon stabbed one finger at the monitors. "They might have intellects on par with the materials that compose them, but one thing they are _very_ good at is following orders. If they are working together like this, it is because Slade told them to do so."

"Doesn't seem like they're working together to me," Baran interrupted, stuffing the last of his hot dogs into his mouth.

"So, back when you were all thieves, you would not be working together if you robbed a bank, Gizmo an electronics store, and Jinx a jeweler's so that you could split the Titans up when we came after you?" Raven turned back to the live feeds. "It is the exact same principle here: lure them away from each other, isolate them so they cannot match their adversaries' individual strengths with their combined skills. Unfortunately, I do not believe this _particular_ deployment is meant for my old team."

"You think it's for _us_?"

The lavender-haired woman nodded slowly at Jinx's question. "I do. Our spat with Starfire was well-covered in the local news media; it is not inconceivable that Slade would have heard about our return. In fact, we should have _expected_ that word would have eventually reached his ears.

"This is exactly his style, as well. Despite his truly fearsome combat abilities, Slade is not a fighter; if he were, he would not hide behind proxies and androids. He is a thinker, a planner, a mastermind, and this… this is an reconnaissance mission."

"'Cause we've been gone for so long," the pinkette murmured in comprehension. "Five years is long enough for just about anyone to learn new tricks if they put their minds to it. He wants to know how we've changed and get a better idea of what we're capable of now."

"Exactly, and that is why this stratagem is a problem," Raven declared.

"Huh?" Gizmo looked over his shoulder at them. "What problem are ya talking about? Seems like the Titans have got everything well in hand; it's not like it's the first time… they've… fought… _Fuck_."

The leader of Team Black Magic shot her eyes back and forth between the pair. "How about the _Reader's Digest_ version for the people here who, you know, _aren't_ geniuses?"

"The Titans are not unfamiliar with these three; I remember fighting them several times myself. None of them are particularly difficult, simply endurant and gifted with a capacity for destruction. In fact, I believe that under normal circumstances, any of my former teammates could handle any of the trio one-on-one."

"Okay?"

The tiny tech terror cut in, "So if Slade wants to test _us_, why send out these snot-brains when the Titans should be able to take care of it?"

"…Because they _can't_ take care of it. He's rigged the fights," she breathed.

"I am not sure that is the best analogy, but yes. Either he has finally lost what little sanity he had left, or he has given his patsies some advantage he believes will force our involvement."

"So? We should still let them deal with it," Baran said with shrug. "Not like protecting the city's our job."

She shook her head. "No, our job's burying this guy, and much as I hate to say it, they've done a good job keeping us on the bottom of Slade's to-do list. If the Titans get taken out, _and_ if he thinks we're after him, he could devote all the resources he has at his disposal to hunting us down. I know we've sucked in keeping our movements on the down-low this mission, but there's a difference between being caught on the news and open warfare. The brass would probably let the first one go if Raven blamed it on Starfire and being a local celebrity; the second… not so much, especially if we had to call in the rest of the Initiative to help take care of this son of a bitch.

"Still, we don't know for a fact that those five _can't_ handle their fights themselves. No reason to move in when everything's just a coin toss…"

"What is the plan, then, my love?"

"We prepare for the worst and hope for the best, of course." Jinx turned around and walked to the doorway. "Giz, keep an eye on 'em; Raven, Baran, suit up and get back in here. We need to be ready for immediate insertion."

* * *

Cyborg pulled the T-Car up to the curb and stepped out, Beast Boy joining him from the other side. "Not that I'm wishin' ill on anyone, but why is it never the _nice_ places that get attacked?" Several complexes in this lower-class neighborhood had already been smashed straight through, and the streets were completely deserted as the residents had fled from the semi-sentient mass of concrete strolling through their turf. _At least we won't have to worry about collateral damage; anythin' __**we**__ break, we blame on Cinderblock_.

"Beats me, dude." The green changeling looked around. "Where is the rock-head, anyway?"

Frowning, he scanned their surroundings as well. _He couldn't have left already, and the guy was never all that good at hidin'. Is he still in one of the apartments?_ Just then, a low pounding sound entered his ears, and he twisted in the direction it came from. Upon seeing the source, his organic eye widened. "Move!"

He leapt to one side of the road while Beast Boy shifted into an eagle and flew in the opposite direction. They were barely in time; running at what had to be thirty miles per hour, the villain they were pursuing barreled through the space they had just vacated, missing the front of the T-Car by inches. Thankfully, Cinderblock did not yet have a handle on his new speed, and when he tried to turn, all he managed to do was trip over his own feet and start rolling on the ground.

Of course, the henchman was still moving at a good clip, so that roll was enough to rip through yet another building's front wall. Finally able to clamber to his feet, Cinderblock roared in challenge as he exited his most recent hole. _At least that explains how so much damage was done in such a short time, but why couldn't he have tried this out in a junkyard or somethin'?_

"I know it's been a while since we last saw this guy, but I don't remember him being anywhere _near_ this fast before," the polymorph remarked.

"Me neither, but fast, slow, or standin' still, it doesn't matter. I think he needs a reminder not to go tearin' stuff up in _our town_." His right arm unfolded into his signature cannon. "Let's give it to him."

* * *

Before the advent of safe and efficient fusion reactors, Jump City had relied on a coal-fired power plant that was constructed in the early 1970s. The building was now a desolate relic of a bygone age, but because of the massive stockpiles of fuel it still contained, the city had elected not to demolish it, instead keeping it in reserve in case the more modern plant needed to be shut down for any reason.

Pulling up to the edifice, Nightwing was starting to wish they had just consigned it to the scrapheap.

It was obvious how Overload had gotten in; the door had been literally _carved_ from the wall, crumbling edges hinting that the electric criminal had used his arms as plasma torches to burn through the brickwork. The vigilante drew a short steel shaft from his belt and extended it to its full six-foot length before stepping through the hole. Not hearing the familiar _snap-hiss_ of his enemy, he sprinted through the halls deeper into the complex.

_If I were a living mass of lightning who broke into a power plant, where would I be? The turbines!_

Though he made a few wrong turns in this maze of unplanned additions and derelict supports, Nightwing soon stepped onto a balcony of sorts, one that looked over the engines designed to provide energy to the city's inhabitants. Sure enough, there was his target, ferrying glowing lumps of coal across the room and into the open furnace. Already the turbines were beginning to whir; it would not be long before they were ready to be drained.

_Too bad he won't get to enjoy it._ Drawing curved birdarangs with his off-hand, he let them fly at the sprinklers built into the ceiling, and water soon began spraying onto the ground. "Sorry, Overload, but you're about to experience a black out."

The embodiment of electricity, evidently hearing Nightwing's voice, turned towards the hero. Water streamed down the white body, framing the computer chip with its single glaring 'eye'. "Organic being can not defeat Overload. Overload will consume!"

_What in the world? He's made of electricity; the water should be shorting him out by now._ Taking a closer look, his eyes widened. Wherever the liquid hit, Overload's body was glowing a pale _yellow. It's as if he has his own personal shield_, he realized.

"Water does not damage Overload!" The enemy scooped up a piece of coal in one tapered limb and hurled it at him. Nightwing dove to one side; even with the indoor rain wicking away some of the heat the plasmatic pseudo-flesh had imparted into the projectile, its surface was still much too hot for him to want it to hit him.

_So he's going to be difficult, huh?_ A blue disc soared through the air and blew up against Overload's arm, and through the smoke cloud fell the masked crime-fighter, his staff positioned for a heavy overhead blow. The air rang from the impact between steel and solidified lightning for a moment, but then the burning matter sliced the pole in half. Nightwing dropped silently to the ground. From this distance, he could see a copper orb orbiting Overload's central chip, likely whatever was generating the entity's shield, and he retreated in a back-handspring before throwing the remains of his weapon at the offending object. His attack was partially successful; the steel bar _contacted_ the projector, but then glanced off rather than knock it out of Overload's body.

He flicked out his eskrima sticks, both of which had a layer of plastic wrapped around the business ends. This was not the only electricity-manipulating villain he had faced recently; that H.I.V.E. kid had been _shocked_ when Nightwing's weapons were insulated against his attacks the second time they encountered each other. It looked like that modification was going to be essential once again.

_Still… I could really use some backup right about now._

* * *

Left. Right. Up. Send one platform at him and jump onto another. Block his acid spit and drop out of the way of the next punch.

Lisa piloted her stone mount away from the swarm of arms streaking her way. Plasmus was not a real fighter so much as he was a brawling juggernaut, but with her being left to her own devices, that might be enough to do her in. _Good grief, this guy's really going all out today. Can't he do me a favor just this once and go down easy?!_

The purple monstrosity opened his mouth wide and spewed another torrent of boiling acid in her direction. She jumped away from the floating boulder she was on before it could melt the rock to nothing with her still on it…

…and her eyes widened as she saw the second spray, evidently fired on the heels of the first, streaking towards her. She had been careless; her next ride was too far away. Even if she called it to her now, it couldn't move fast enough to save her. Tears sprang to her eyes as she gave thanks that at least she had spent her last day with Maeve and Jazmyn.

A fulfilling job. Friends, fighters and civilians both. Respect from the city's citizens and fear from its criminals. Money, fame, material things of every sort. Sometimes, one mistake was all it took to lose them all.

* * *

"…So _that's_ how he stacked the deck."

"Indeed. If the other two were enhanced as Cinderblock was, I am not sure the Titans can win today. Together, certainly, but divided as they are?"

"Then I guess you'll get your wish, sweet-cheeks. You mind giving me and Baran a lift?"

"Of course not, but who will help whom?"

"Not Cyborg and Greenie. I don't wanna be around Robin, either."

"So instead you ride off to save the damsel in distress. Typical."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"How many hot chicks have you banged after pulling them out of bad situations? Upwards of a dozen?"

"It wasn't that many! Eight… maybe nine. And I don't care _what_ you say, Stella doesn't count!"

"Wow, don't let her daddy hear that. He'd kill you twice; once for violating his little princess — and on her eighteenth birthday, too — and again for saying that the youngest daughter of the Don of the _whole damn Sicilian mafia_ was a bad lay."

"Will you two _please_ stop acting like children for a moment? _Spitfire_ is more mature than this."

"I call bullshit on that, but you probably have a point. I'll help bird boy; it'll be appropriate if nothing else."

"Very well. I would rather not go to Richard's side, anyway. I fear I would be too tempted to 'accidentally' attack him. Mammoth, it would be for the best if you left your helmet behind."

"But then they'll know who I am!"

"_That_ will be obvious the instant they compare notes afterwards; showing your hand now cannot do any harm, but it might help. Unfortunately, I do not know how effective the suit's weapons will be against your chosen foe."

"Not a problem; I've already prepped Gretchen if you want to take her with. Alicia and Carly are warming up as we speak, too, so I can give you some air support in a few minutes if you need it."

"Sure."

"You know, I don't think your girl's doing so hot. Let's roll out, people. We don't want one of our few local assets to get smashed like a bug."

* * *

A strong arm wrapped itself around Lisa's waist and pulled her back against a broad chest. Half a second before the gushing green acid reached them, her sight scrambled and reconstituted itself into a view of a nearby rooftop. No longer in her savior's grasp, she fell to her knees and struggled to keep her breakfast burrito from making an untimely reappearance.

"Sorry about that. The first few jumps suck, I know, but at least it's better than Raven's way of teleporting. I'm just glad she dropped me off first, or I wouldn't have been able to get to you in time."

She twisted her head to glance at the speaker. _No. Way. Red X?_ Looking up to his unmasked face, she tried hard to figure out why he looked so familiar, but it wasn't until she ignored his short-cropped red hair and clean-shaven face that a video from an old criminal file flashed in front of her mind's eye. "Mammoth?"

"And you're Persephone. You looked like you could use a hand." The — former? — criminal strode away from her and towards… well, it looked like a giant metal bug to her. The machine moved into an impressive handstand, its body vertical while it balanced on its front four legs. The 'wings' spread open like cabinet doors, revealing enough guns that she wondered if he had just come from robbing a National Guard armory: rifles, pistols, mines, even…

Was he holding a _grenade launcher_?

Mammoth broke the breach of his weapon to load a shell before snapping it closed and slinging it over one shoulder, several more rounds already clipped to the strap. A pistol as long as her forearm, obviously sized for his enormous hand, found its way into a holster at the back of his belt. Shoving a magazine into what could only be an assault rifle, he pulled the slide back before turning to her. "Hey, you all right?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm good," she squeaked. It had just clicked what kind of hand he was willing to lend her. Five years of training and practice had gone towards taking down enemies with _'appropriate force'_ so they could be sent to prison, and she had thought time and time again that really beating the tar out of someone would go a long way in dissuading the local criminal element from trying anything. Now, though, staring at a weapon meant purely for dealing out death and knowing that it was soon to fulfill that ghastly purpose?

She couldn't deny that it scared her a little bit.

Her introspection had caused her to miss him toss a small object at her, and she scrambled to catch it. _An earwig?_ She flipped the switch and stuck it in her ear. "This thing on?"

"_Reading you loud and clear, Persephone,"_ a high-pitched voice answered. _"Long as you and the big guy are fighting on the same side, you can consider yourself an honorary member of the team."_

"Gizmo, isn't it?" she clarified. _That_ was why the large man had been recognizable; these two and Jinx used to run together back in the old days, before she had been part of the Titans.

"_Right in one. Plasmus looks kinda lost at the moment, so unless you want him to go back to trashing the place, you two better get a move on."_

"Got it," Mammoth replied. He adjusted his grip on the rifle and glanced at her. "You ready to go?"

_This isn't the help I asked Night for, but it's better than what I thought I would get._ Her hands flared with golden brilliance, and she flashed him a quick grin. "Sure thing. I'll hit first; you cover my ass."

"No problem."

* * *

Nightwing jumped to the side as Overload aimed a swelling appendage at him; a bolt of lightning arced from the limb and impacted the ground where he had been standing. The electric enemy shrank yet again, standing the same height as the hero now that the attack had drained more of the energy that composed his mass. Nightwing knew from recent experience that he had only thirty seconds until he would have to dodge yet again.

He had to make that time count.

With a loud war cry, he charged at his adversary and brought both his short staves against Overload's left 'knee', but while the force dropped the villain, Nightwing knew it would not cripple him. Without an internal anatomy to damage, joint strikes were of limited utility; they were also the only thing he had found that worked. A desperate idea coming to the forefront of his mind, he slipped a cryo disc into the sentient thunderbolt's back and leapt away before he could be caught in the cloud of liquid nitrogen that exploded from its metal shell.

Overload screeched as the high temperature of his plasma melted the ice coating his body. The gallon or two of water that had been created grounded some of his electricity before the damnable yellow barrier again flickered into existence. _That worked better than I hoped_, Nightwing thought as he felt inside the belt compartment he had drawn the weapon from. _Too bad I can't use that strategy to wear him down; I've only got a couple more of those. When I find out who armed this guy with a shield generator, I'm going to take great pleasure in throwing them into their cell myself!_

Rather than chase after the vigilante as he had done previously, Overload instead chose to leap onto one of the six turbines spread throughout the room. He wailed in a fluctuating tone, and fingers of electricity stretched towards him from the metal cylinder he was balanced on… and then the turbines adjacent to that one… and then the ones adjacent to _those_. The leader of the Titans cursed softly as his opponent guzzled down more and more of the power the engines had generated, growing larger all the while.

The pair of cryo discs in his belt were _definitely_ not going to be enough.

A dull clanking grabbed their attention, and he was both surprised and grateful to see a giant hook on a steel chain, likely installed for shifting crates of coal, topple the energy creature from the generator. He was _less_ pleased when he glanced at the controls, or more specifically the pink-haired woman working them. What was Jinx playing at?

"Shit, Bluebird, aim that glare somewhere else. I'm starting to get the impression you don't like me or something."

He grit his teeth. "Why. Are. You. Here?"

"I was just in the neighborhood and thought you could use a hand."

"I have it under control."

She nodded. "Of course you do. You might want to duck, by the way." He turned around just in time to see a thick bolt of lighting slam into him.

_All right, Cyborg. You had better __**never again**__ tell me it's the amps and not the volts that hurt_. Nightwing raised his head groggily from the black dust it was resting in and glanced at the H.I.V.E. graduate now standing beside him.

"We must have _very_ different definitions of _'under control'_. You _sure_ you don't want my help?"

He clutched the offered hand and let her pull him to his feet. "I'll work with you for this fight. The moment he's down, we're back to being enemies."

"I thought you'd see it my way." She stretched her arms in front of her and popped her knuckles; when she drew her hands apart, pink sparks hopped between her fingers. "Well, let's get this over with so I can go claim my after-fight nookie."

* * *

Fast as he might have gotten, Cinderblock still couldn't stand up to two Titans working in concert. Another blast to the face from Cyborg's sonic cannon flung him backwards, only to meet the tail of a Tyrannosaurus. The rockheaded henchman soared through the sky and into the remains of a demolished house.

"And the crowd goes wild! Grand slam for the fantastic Beast Boy!" said shapeshifter cried in triumph.

Cinderblock rising from the debris caused the mechanical man to groan. _Won't this guy just take a hint already?_ The criminal did not seem to want to continue the fight, however, and started running away. Cyborg cursed and raced to the driver's seat of the T-Car. "Celebrate later, BB! We got to catch him before he does any more damage!" The vehicle's wheels squealed as he slammed his foot on the accelerator.

Only now that he tried to catch up did Cyborg realize the true extent of Cinderblock's new speed. The living lump of concrete _refused to slow down_. Faster and faster he ran, and the faster the blue and white car had to go just so Cyborg wouldn't lose him.

_No way he can keep goin' at sixty miles an hour for long_, the half-robot told himself, then he looked down at the speedometer and gaped. They were already past eighty, and the pursuee still showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Cinderblock hung a left onto the Roosevelt Overpass, and he realized he had only a few minutes to stop the villain from reaching the busy roads of the city proper before the _real_ carnage would start. _With that much momentum behind him and his disregard for whatever's in his way, we'll be __**lucky**__ if we can keep the damage estimates below seven digits, to say nothing of the casualty rate._

At this point, he would take any help he could get.

Flickers of red and orange in the sky dragged his eyes from the road, not that he could see anything as he stared at the sun. He shifted his sight back in time to swerve around the car in front of them before returning to the mystery object. A polarized lens rotating into position inside his optical implant caused him to gasp in surprise. What he was looking at was impressive, incredible, _impossible_, yet there it was, taunting him in all its ferocious glory. His eyes flicked back and forth between it and its target, and a vicious smile grew on his face. Call him petty, but he was going to savor this moment.

Large as an elephant, a screaming firebird soared across the street and swept Cinderblock off in its wake.

"_Duuuude_. Did you just _see_ that?"

"Saw it… still workin' on believin' it."

The winged inferno rocketed back up and turned its burning gaze on them, and he gulped. His A/C might be top of the line, but if that thing decided to come after them, they might as well be sitting in an oven. Thoughts raced through his circuits, but he could not see a way to survive this. Not for the first time, he wished Raven was still around; fighting beasts straight out of a fantasy novel had always been her shtick.

Chuffing loudly, it dove towards the car. The flames went out, turning the bird darker than a starless night, and it rapidly diminished in size. Rather than _hit_ the windshield, it phased _through_ it, coming to rest in the backseat and changing into a familiar grey-skinned, purple-eyed woman.

His eyes wide, he struggled for words to describe the sheer _depth_ of his incredulousness before finally settling on a simple, "Holy shit."

"I do not believe I have _ever_ seen you shocked speechless like this," Raven laughed. "How I wish I had brought a camera!"

Cyborg exchanged a glance with Beast Boy, whose face was so pale a green that it looked almost normal. It seemed the changeling finally realized the folly of trying to fight the person in the car with them. With that kind of power behind her, Raven was nothing less than a force of nature, one on par with an earthquake or a hurricane: beautiful, terrifying, relentless… deadly.

If she decided to go through with her threats against them, after all, there wasn't a damn thing they could do to stop her.

"While I may no longer be a Titan, I do not like the idea of Cinderblock running amok any more than you do. Shall we work together once more?"

Beast Boy slowly nodded. "S-Sure thing, Raven. H-Have I ever told you how sorry I am about trying to sneak into your room all those times and playing pranks on you while you were meditating and swapping your tea for chopped-up leaves I pulled off trees in the park and—"

"Yes, yes, I understand," interrupted the half-demon. "You are not _forgiven_, especially for that mention of altering my tea, but considering that was so long ago, I will give you a free pass for the moment. Now will you please _shut up_? I am trying to determine where our target is headed."

_The road!_ Cyborg whipped around to grab the wheel, surprised that they had not run into anyone while he was otherwise engaged… only to find that the street was some thirty feet _below_ them. The T-Car, coated in Raven's black aura and flying through the air, was catching up to the rampaging criminal.

"There, he's tryin' to reach exit 108! Take us beside him on his right side!" She obliged, speeding their flight, and he lowered his window. His arm changed into its cannon configuration as he stretched it outside to point at Cinderblock's dropped jaw. "When we say stop, you better _listen_!" The blue blast blew the bruiser off his feet, and he rolled to a halt a hundred feet away.

The Titans' vehicle of choice settled onto the asphalt with nary a bounce. The trio of allies, formerly teammates and close friends, exited and moved confidently towards the fallen villain. "It's over, Cinderblock! Fight or give up, all it's gonna change is how much pain you're in at the end!"

The hulking behemoth pushed himself to his feet and shook his head. Roaring at them, he chose the response everyone there knew he would and shoved himself off the road like a sprinter off the blocks. Cyborg raised his arm again in preparation of another shot, but he was not expecting Cinderblock to then use that speed to _jump_ onto the overpass.

That trick was _really_ getting on his nerves.

"Back to the car!" he called as he spun on one heel. Raven apparently had other ideas, however; a black disc formed below his and Beast Boy's feet and lifted them clear off the ground. "Or this works, too."

A soft growl coming from the woman's direction drifted to his ear, and he slowly turned to look at her. "You okay?" he hesitantly asked.

"That. Is. _Enough_. He wants a show? I can oblige." Amethysts met photodetector, and she whispered, "Please close your eyes and cover your ears. I would rather neither of you witnessed this."

"Why?"

She smiled sadly. "Even Gizmo and Mammoth, as accepting as they normally are, become a little _nervous_ when I put this side of myself on display."

"So you'll show them but not me?" He gave her a weak grin, the best he could offer at the moment. Her reluctance was starting to worry him. "Rae, I'm hurt."

"Do not say that I did not warn you," she cautioned. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let it out; when she opened them again, they burned red. Her tattoos — which he now realized covered her _entire_ body, not just her arms and legs — burst into hideous scarlet light, shining eerily through her tight sleeveless shirt and camouflage fatigues. She raised her arms to her sides, but instead of manifesting dark spheres around her hands, she set them ablaze. Even her voice was wrong, distorted and just plain _scary_, as she shouted, "Host of the damned, army of the Eighth Circle! Raven the Kinslayer commands thee come forth!"

_Oh, boy. This… not good. Starfire's goin' to have __**kittens**__ when she hears about this._

Indeed, a dozen spots on the road had spontaneously burst into flame, and from them rose entities of fire and ash. Their heads were misshapen, their limbs more tentacles than actual arms. Each of these infernal invaders hovered a foot above the ground on phantasmal tails. Bad memories of an averted apocalypse played in his mind as he recalled just how hard these things were to keep down, and he grimaced when Beast Boy whimpered next to him. The two heroes had every right to be scared.

Trigon's flame demons walked the earth once more.

"Cinderblock flees my presence," Raven informed her minions. _And ain't __**that**__ a terrifyin' thought?_, a tiny voice whimpered in his mind. "You know his face. Bring him to me. Hurt no other mortal. Go."

Sprouting wings of shadow, the squadron of Hell's soldiers took to the skies.

"_That_ is what I did not want you to see," she told the pair of males, her unholy changes vanishing as she turned to look at them with sad eyes. "I hid it from you at the time, but vanquishing Trigon was not without consequence."

"R-Raven… How?"

"Inheritance among demonkind is fairly straightforward; humans knowledgeable about that plane often encapsulate it in the axiom, _'You keep what you kill'_, though it is slightly more nuanced than that. I defeated my father, so I took command of His titles, His warriors. Everything that was once His is now mine. Rarely do I use what I gained from Him, but there are times they give me an advantage. Now, for instance.

"Speaking of warriors, they have returned."

Cyborg glanced up at the cloud of red and black that was carrying a struggling brown mass. "That was… fast. _Really_ fast." Only seconds had passed; that was enough for them to catch Cinderblock and return?

"The abilities of this class of servant are predicated on their Lord's preferences. Where Trigon gave them strength, I instead enhanced their speed." She stretched a hand out to the villain as her soldiers lowered him to their level. "How much does he tell you? Let us find out. _Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos_."

Raven's dark soul flew from her body into Cinderblock's, and a moment later it returned. "You truly are a pitiful creation, Cinderblock, a golem that has been left to its own devices for far too long. Your maker is gone, and it is time you joined him." She turned around to stare intently at a nearby traffic camera. "Reduce that thing to nothingness and then return to your stations."

The swarm of demons burst into crimson flame, burning brightly for several seconds before winking out of existence.

Beast Boy babbled incoherently, and Cyborg was little better. "You just… killed him? Just like that?"

"No," Raven denied quietly as she floated towards the Titans. "One must be _alive_ to die; Cinderblock was not, nor had it ever been. It was, in fact, exactly what it looked like: a concrete statue animated through magic. A mage of unknown caliber animated it several decades ago to serve as a physical laborer, but when he died, it no longer had a master. Slade was the first to find it, and it has obeyed him ever since, just as its maker programmed it to do."

What could he say to that? If she was right, what she had done was no worse than dismantling one of the missing mastermind's many androids. "You're _sure_ about all that?" he asked.

"I am. When I entered it, there was no soul to speak of, only a meager artificial intelligence." She lowered them to the ground and then joined them after a moment's hesitation. "On the bright side, at least he will no longer pose—" She slapped a hand to her ear and winced.

"What's up with her?" Beast Boy whispered from behind him.

"No idea, but I don't think it's good."

"Slow… slow down… _Gizmo!"_ She huffed and continued, "Deep breath, in and out. Now say that again, but _slower_… He _what?!_… No, no, no. _I_ will retrieve her; tell Mammoth to stay _exactly_ where he is, and I will come for him later." Lowering her hand and swirling darkness around herself, she turned to the metallic hero. "Would you relay a message to Richard for me?"

"Maybe?"

"Tell him that the next time I see him, he is a _dead man_." With that, the half-demon vanished.

Cyborg raised one arm and connected to their leader's communicator. Upon seeing the vigilante's mask, he commented in a tone of complete seriousness, "Nightwing, I don't know what you just did, but I hope to God you've written out your will. You're gonna need it."

* * *

Though Lisa really should not have been surprised, bullets were completely ineffective against Plasmus. The same could be said about Mammoth's various X-shaped bindings, and his grenades were little better. "Remind me what good you are, please?"

"Oh, shut up," he retorted, using his yellow laser beam to slice through more of the goo-monster's arms. "_You_ save _me_ from getting my face melted off, _then_ you can trash-talk."

"Fair enough." She ripped an enormous chunk of asphalt out of the street and stuffed it down Plasmus's craw. Crunching loudly, the giant villain chomped it to pieces that he then spat out of his mouth. "Oh, come _on!_ What's it going to take to knock this guy over?"

"More than I got." Electricity crackling around his fist, he met Plasmus's punch with one of his own. The gluttonous enemy howled in pain as his purple hand swelled up and popped, forcing him to regrow his appendage. The separated ooze sparked fitfully before slowly, _slowly_, making its way back to the main body. "Or maybe not."

"_For all your other flaws, Mammoth, your sense of timing is impeccable!"_ Turning to the sound of thrusters, she found an odd-looking machine streaking through the air. _"Alicia and Carly have arrived! Beauties, aren't they?"_

_Maybe if I was a gearhead like Cyborg, I'd agree._ "Okay, sure. How are they going to help?" she finally asked.

The drones clicked and separated, the twin thrusters and their rectangular connector flying off while the boxy one adjusted its position on a nearby rooftop. Lifting itself up much as Mammoth's armory had, it opened doors to reveal several circles cut into a steel plate. _"All my girls have names that identify their functions. Alicia for 'aerial transport', Gretchen for 'guns', and Carly…"_

Several holes blew smoke out their back ends and fired rockets connected to thick wires.

"…_for 'capture'."_

The lines soared towards Plasmus and wrapped around one arm. Even as the monstrosity struggled against his bindings, oozing out of their grasp, lightning arced down them and into his semi-liquid flesh. Another explosion heralded the loss of that limb.

"Convenient you have that, but why would you even design those to electrocute people?"

"_You ever see anyone fight back after getting tased? Same principle."_

"Touché." Taking a chance, Lisa lifted some of the debris left over from her attacks and guided it into the still-sparking matter; to her delight, the blow sheared off even more of Plasmus's body. They were actually going to win this fight! "Get his main body! Enough trauma there should knock him out!"

This time, it was _all_ the wires that flew from the Carly drone and tangled about the purple criminal. Plasmus showed that he did, in fact, possess intelligence as he thinned his body in an attempt to escape the painful prison. It was all for naught, however, and he vanished in a tremendous splat.

She steered the boulder she was riding over the pool of purple, looking for the half-naked body they always found after defeating him. A scream pulled her attention to the man behind the monster and his current predicament. The goo, no longer fried, was creeping up his body and quickly swallowed his head. "Hey, that's not how this works! When we take you down, you freaking stay down!"

"Move!" She dodged out of the way of the falling Mammoth, and another thunderpunch uncovered Plasmus's skin. A third hit, this time without the discharge, landed on the criminal's temple. "There, that'll do— Oh, come on!" he complained as Plasmus's eyes shot open again.

_Why the hell can't we keep him under?_

"It won't work!" Plasmus shouted, and Lisa's eyebrows shot up. Was that _fear_ in his voice? "He did something to me. I can't go back to sleep!"

Shocking the purple slime off him again, the redheaded giant leaned closer. "Who? What?"

"I don't know what, but the who was some white-haired guy! He said he needed Plasmus and that he couldn't afford to have him taken out of commission."

"Wait, are you saying you don't _want_ to attack anybody?" she asked in surprise. The man was acting like Plasmus was somebody else entirely.

"Of course not! That's why I had the police put me under constant sedation! Plasmus only comes out when I'm awake, but if I'm asleep, no one gets hurt!"

_So all the times we defeated Plasmus, we were just beating up some guy who couldn't do a thing about it? Way to make me feel good about myself, buddy._

Mammoth frowned. "Hitting you isn't working, and I don't have any drugs to put you to sleep. Seph, ideas?"

"Nope, not a one."

"Please, do something," the man begged. "I'll take _anything_. I just don't want to be a monster anymore."

"I'm sorry, Plasmus—"

"Otto." The unfortunate victim in this whole debacle looked up at the two of them. "My name's Otto von Furth. I used to work construction."

"Otto." Mammoth reached behind him and pulled the huge handgun out of his belt to show to the man. "This is the best I've got."

Tears shone in Otto's eyes, and he completely relaxed even as the ooze slapped onto his skin faster than ever. "_Please_."

The end of the silver barrel touched the man's forehead. "Just so you know, I really am sorry I couldn't do you any better." Lisa spun around; she could not bear to watch what she knew was coming, nor could she come up with any alternative.

Facing away didn't stop her from hearing the gun's single report, nor the clink of the spent cartridge falling onto the street in the sudden silence.

The globs of purple slime in her field of vision seized for a quick moment, then they suddenly lost all viscosity and spread over the asphalt. That more than anything told her that Otto was gone. She hadn't known the man for more than a few seconds, and yet the knowledge that she hadn't been able to save him from the evil that plagued him far more than it ever had Jump City tore at her heart. In such circumstances, death would be a mercy — maybe not to everyone, but _she_ would rather die than suffer as he had — and yet…

"_I hate it,"_ Gizmo's voice drifted through her earpiece, almost as though he could use it to listen to her deepest thoughts. _"Every time I see them send someone off like that because there's no other way to save him, it rips me up inside. The big guy, especially; he's not cut out for mercy killings."_

"This has happened before?" she whispered.

"_In our line of work, where we have to go places we're not supposed to be and do things that there can never be records of us doing, sometimes that's the only option. It's not a common occurrence, thankfully; Raven's healing powers time and time again have been an absolute godsend, no matter where she gets 'em from. But not even she can fix everything. When the alternative is leaving your friends to suffer after an IED blows away her arms and legs or a flamethrower burns off ninety percent of his skin, putting them out of their misery is so much smaller an evil that you couldn't see it with a microscope. Doesn't make it any easier to watch, and I won't insult them by pretending to know how much worse it is to be the one actually pulling the trigger._

"_Fucking __**hell**__, Jinx, what didja do that for?!"_

Lisa futilely tried to jerk her head away from the sudden shout, and apparently their conversation had not been as private as she assumed because Mammoth grimaced as well. He snapped nastily, "Do you _have_ to be so loud?"

"_Sorry, sorry. I don't know what the bubblegum princess was thinking, but she just blew out my eyes in the power plant. I'll switch to traffic cams, but until I can hack 'em, I'm blind."_

"What about Raven?" she asked in curiosity.

Gizmo snickered. _"Let's just say she's about to have some fun at the tin man's expense. I'm recording the video, so I'll ask her to send it to you later."_

* * *

Jinx flicked a crescent of pink at Overload as Nightwing jumped out of the way and smirked when their mutual enemy ducked. The hex wasn't meant to hit _him_, but the steel cables hanging from the ceiling. Snapping in half, they fell directly on the head of the living power surge, causing him to screech in pain, fury, or both while more energy was diverted from his body into the ground. The overblown static shock couldn't recharge, either; those annoying turbines had been the _first_ things to go, despite the Boy Wonder's glare.

If he wanted to drag out his fights, that was his business, but _she_ had better things to do with her time. Raven was at the top of that list.

"I'm running out of things to suck him dry with!" she called, just managing to dodge Overload's retaliatory rush. Those cables were the last weapons of opportunity she had been able to spot, and unless she could trick him into stumbling into a trap, the temporary allies were going to have a tough time ending this little dance. It wasn't like they could really hurt Overload directly, convenient as that would be.

"Then look harder!" Nightwing ran past her lugging a 2-by-4 that he had ripped off a broken coal crate and shoved it in the baby blackout's 'chest'. It might not conduct electricity like the hero's metal poles would, but she didn't think the weapon immediately bursting into flame was a good sign. "Dammit, I thought I had it that time!"

"Had what?"

He retreated to her side and glared at the criminal. "He has some kind of shield generator next to his chip that protects him from getting wet. If we were able to take it away, I could use a cryo disc to create ice _inside_ him and ground him that way, but the thing's squirrelly like you wouldn't believe."

_Ice. What else could we do with ice?_ Her eyes swung about the room, taking in the rusted steel walls, the cracked ceiling, the coal dust coating the floor, the abandoned tool boxes, the remains of the engines… _You know, that might just work. It's completely and totally __**insane**__, but if we… hmm._ "Hey, Nightwing?"

"Yes…?" he asked cautiously, catching the wicked grin on her face.

"How long does the ice from that gadget last with his shield up?"

"Only a second or two. You have a plan?"

She nibbled her lower lip for a moment before she nodded definitively. "Yeah, I've got a plan. Keep him off me for a sec, will ya?" At his affirmation, she spun around in hopes of finding an exit other than the door on the balcony. _And of course it's the only one. That has to be a fire code violation of some kind. Oh well, guess I'll just have to make my own._ Whirling her arms wildly, she hurled hexbolt after hexbolt into the wall to the side of a small stack of crates, and in short order she was looking at a hole just wide enough for a fairly thin person to clamber through. _That'll have to do._

"Hit his feet!" Jinx commanded as she hastily climbed the wooden tower. Nightwing looked up at her in confusion, so she elaborated, "The disc! Throw it at his feet and get through the hole behind me!" The pale blue projectile trapped Overload's legs between spikes of ice, and she leapt from the top of the boxes, pink lightning of her own making following her clasped hands like the tail of a comet. Dropping to her knees the instant she landed, she hammered the ground, her metahuman talent shattering the tiles in an ever expanding wave and throwing up a black cloud as it passed by. Her time counting down, she jumped through the opening she had made and rolled to one side.

When she had met her teammates in the H.I.V.E., they initially bonded over a mutual love of all things that went boom, a love she would admit none of them had actually outgrown as the years went by; alchemy had first lured her in partly because of the variety of explosives that could be synthesized. Among the many options they had discussed on that long-ago day was something Gizmo had called a _'powder bomb'_, nothing more complicated than some combustible particulate floating in the air next to an ignition source. The most interesting part was the sheer variety of fuels it could use: flour, powdered aluminum, wood slivers… coal dust…

The loud, flat _whump_ and the brief shudder of the ground told her it was now safe to look out, and she smiled at the sight of the burning, broken, Overload-free room. She climbed through the hole and began picking through the debris, Nightwing following a few steps behind her. Soon enough her boot hit the chip that made up the only solid part of their enemy, the red circuits flickering on and off. A powder bomb was pretty weak as far as explosives went, more a fireball than a concussion wave, but since his own energy had served as the spark that set the whole thing off, he had been stuck at ground zero. Mistaking them for people able or willing to help him, he alerted them of his distress with a wavering, "Sys-tem… err-or…"

"Yeah, you're about to get errored." A bolt of pink shattered the thick silicon wafer, and the last remnants of the malevolent A.I. faded away. "That worked better than I expected."

"_Jinx, you sludge-muncher! What did you just __**do**__?!"_

_Seriously, who does he think is leading this team?_ "Don't get your panties in a wad. Overload's out of commission, and I'm—"

A blow to the back of her head cut her off, and she dropped heavily to the ground. Dimly she could hear the backstabber speaking. "Jinx, you are hereby under arrest for vandalism, being an accomplice to grand larceny, and murder, though considering how you just helped me out, I'll do my best to persuade the judge to drop that last charge. I'm not sure Overload can even be considered _'alive'_, technically. You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney…"

Midway through Nightwing's nattering, she was blessed with unconsciousness.

* * *

**First time we get to watch Raven cut loose a little bit. There's a reason even the Justice League doesn't want to piss her off. The Ternion Trio were interesting to write, too; it's amazing how much tougher they become once you cover their glaring weaknesses.**

**Not to **_**defend**_** Nightwing's actions, necessarily, but he **_**did**_** say **_**"the moment [Overload's] down, we're back to being enemies"**_**. That was still a dick move, though.**

**Silently Watches out.**


End file.
